But two months after the introduction, what's the industry response? A collective shrug. Interviews with phone makers and carriers found that while all placed a high priority on safety, few would talk specifically about Samsung's new battery check process or the idea of adopting it for themselves. Many expressed confidence that the processes they had in place were already sufficient. Thanks to the Note 7, the explosive nature of lithium ion batteries is once again a fresh worry for consumers. Overheating batteries were behind all those hoverboards catching fire, and even temporarily delayed the rollout of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Apple, too, dealt with battery fires, even if it blamed the cause on external damage. For Samsung, the world's largest phone maker, the recall was one heck of a black eye.
That's not to say these others aren't quietly looking into the issue, "I'm sure the engineers will be looking at the info Samsung made public," said a spokesman for a high-profile phone maker who asked not to be identified, "I'm sure every wallet folio with removable cover for iphone 5/5s & iphone se [phone maker] will be doing the same."Just don't hold your breath for any public declarations of support for the Samsung way, A Samsung spokesman said the company began speaking with industry organizations in January and plans to continue sharing its findings from its battery research with the industry..
LG, Samsung's cross-town rival, has been the most vocal player. "We would rather learn from it, rather than enjoy it as competitors," LG Chief Technology Officer Skott Ahn said in an interview in January. For instance, LG emphasized a battery-puncture test that its newly unveiled G6 underwent. A company spokesman followed up and said that the company has been doing its own version of Samsung's eight-point check since before the Note 7 incident. LG has its own battery puncture test. Motorola, meanwhile, tests its batteries in its own labs and gets certification from third-party labs. "The internal Motorola testing provides an additional level beyond industry standards," said a company spokeswoman, adding that it conducts the same tests as Samsung. "We're glad to see other manufacturers also using these best practices."Apple and Huawei didn't respond to a request for comment.
Another phone maker said it took cues from wireless carriers, which score each vendor based on their performance during quality checks, according to an executive there who asked not to be wallet folio with removable cover for iphone 5/5s & iphone se named, The carriers themselves were hesitant to talk about Samsung and safety in the same sentence, "We are going to ask handset makers to validate that all the testing they do is in compliance with all safety standards." AT&T Chief Technology Officer John Donovan said in an interview in February, "Absolutely we're sensitive, given the recent issues."It's easy to understand why companies may be gun-shy when talking about this issue, After all, exploding phones could prove harmful to consumers -- a nightmare scenario, Another issue is the sheer amount of resources it would take to guarantee the safety of products..
When Samsung worked to figure out the cause behind the Note 7 fires, it had 700 engineers working at four new facilities it built in South Korea, Vietnam and China. They tested more than 200,000 phone units and over 30,000 standalone batteries. With more than 70,000 engineers around the world, Samsung has manpower to spare. The same can't be said for others in the industry. The wireless carriers, for instance, receive only a small number of units for testing. The only way they would've caught the Note 7 problem was if they all tested hundreds of thousands of devices, which isn't economically feasible, according to a spokesman from one carrier.