Exploding Samsung Galaxy S3 was an external fault, company says

The explosion of a new-model Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone in Ireland last June was not due to any fault or misfunction of the phone's hardware, Samsung stressed over the weekend.

 

Samsung said Fire Investigations UK (FIUK), an independent party contracted to look into the matter, showed the explosion stemmed from an “external energy source”.

 

“The damaged device and additionally provided devices were examined and exposed to a series to tests. The investigation summary states that ‘The energy source responsible for generating the heat has been determined as external to the device’ and ‘the device was not responsible for the cause of the fire,’“ Samsung said.

 

It also said the investigation results state the only way it was possible to produce damage similar to the damage recorded within the owner’s damaged device “was to place the devices or component parts within a domestic microwave.”

 

On the other hand, Samsung posted on its website a screenshot of a bulletin board entry by the exploding phone's owner, who "admitted" being at fault.

 

"I would like to retract my original statement. The damage to the phone was caused by another person, although they were attempting to recover the phone from water this later caused the damage shown on the phone. It occurred due to a large amount of external energy and there was no fault with the phone. This was not a deliberate act but a stupid mistake," the user, who used the handle dillo2k10, said in the bulletin board post.

 

Initially, the owner claimed he was driving when a white flame, sparks and a bang came from the Galaxy S3 in his car.

 

The bulletin board entry was still live as of 9 a.m. Monday, Manila time. — TJD, GMA News