After the fiery Note7 disaster, Samsung has a lot riding on the upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship handset. As such, the South Korean giant is determined to get it right, even if it means buying batteries from its competitor, LG.
The Note7’s propensity for catching fire and being a general nuisance was originally blamed on a battery defect inside models supplied by Samsung SDI. The company then abandoned its own batteries and relied entirely on China’s ATL, but even those replacement devices started catching fire, forcing Samsung to abandon the Note7 line entirely.
Fast-forward to today, and it’s still not clear what caused Samsung’s phablet to spontaneously combust, though the battery is still the most likely culprit. According to the Korean media, Samsung is willing to do pretty much anything to avoid such problems with its upcoming S8 phone, expected early next year. In fact, Samsung has reportedly ditched both its own batteries as well as ATL, and is now looking at other suppliers including its arch rival LG.
Samsung and LG compete locally on pretty much every consumer electronic category available, so the two companies aren’t exactly excited to do business with each other. Though that hasn’t stopped Samsung from relying on LG Innotek for its camera modules, and the stakes being what they are, it will likely not stop it from purchasing LG Chem batteries.
The two companies haven’t signed a deal just yet but with the launch window for the S8 quickly approaching, it likely won’t be long before Samsung is forced to decide on its new supplier.
Source: Korea Herald