Samsung to explain why its Note7 phablets overheated during livestreamed press conference on Monday AM on Jan. 23 in Korea/Sunday PM in United States
Organizations can be pretty darn strategic when it comes to timing bad news announcements, typically after the market closes…on Fridays…of long weekends.
I can’t say whether Samsung has purposely timed its press conference to explain the cause of the Galaxy Note7 fires and explosions for a Monday morning (10AM Korea Standard Time) in Seoul, South Korea knowing that many in the US will be otherwise distracted at that time (8pm Eastern Standard Time on Sunday) by the NFL’s AFC Championship Game. After all, American football is down on the list of popular sports in Korea after soccer and baseball, and the company might just want to get its press conference over first thing during the week in Seoul.
Botched batteries are believed to be at the heart of the problem with the Android phablets, which were generally well received when introduced. But overheating, and sometimes exploding, Note7 devices led Samsung to recall them — including those with replacement batteries. The smartphones were discontinued in the fall.
The Wall Street Journal this week reported that “people familiar with the matter” say Samsung will blame irregularly sized batteries for the problems with the Note7.
MORE: Samsung Note7 — a Phenomenal Phablet Flame-Out
Samsung has issued the following statement:
Following several months of comprehensive investigations, Samsung executives will announce the cause of the Galaxy Note7 incidents and quality enhancement plan during a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on January 23, 2017 at 10am(KST).
Samsung Electronics, as well as independent expert organizations who conducted their own investigations into various aspects of the Galaxy Note7 incidents, will share their findings. In addition, Samsung will discuss the new measures the company has implemented in response to the incidents.
The full press conference will be available via live-stream globally, and can be accessed through www.samsung.com/galaxy and Samsung Newsroom.
