Samsung Galaxy Note 7 overheating cause still not known, may delay Galaxy S8

Almost two months have passed since Samsung announced its worldwide recall of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, but the tech giant reportedly still cannot figure out what causes its flagship phone to burst into flames, resulting in the delay of the its next front runner, the Galaxy S8.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the on-going Galaxy Note 7 investigation has hit a roadblock, and that the sluggish progress of the probe is putting off the development of Samsung’s next flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S8.

The South Korean conglomerate did not initially comment on the issue, but a Samsung representative told the publication that the company is still currently looking into the factors that may have caused the Galaxy Note 7 phones to overheat.

“We recognised that we did not correctly identify the issue the first time and remain committed to finding the root cause,” the spokesperson said. “Our top priority remains the safety of our customers and retrieving 100 percent of the Galaxy Note 7 devices in the market.”

The extended amount of time allotted in the investigation has reportedly affected the progress of the Galaxy S8. An S8 development team member told the Wall Street Journal that they couldn’t continue on the Galaxy S8’s advancements since the engineers are still busy trying to figure out the root cause of the Galaxy Note 7’s problems.

The Galaxy Note 7 was released back in August and initially received great reviews. Samsung was supposed to capitalise on the momentum brought about by the Galaxy S7’s success, but the dream quickly became nightmare as the company was forced to issue a global recall of the overheating handsets. The whole crisis has been a public relations disaster for the electronics giant.

After a second recall, Samsung ultimately decided to halt the production and distribution of the fiery Galaxy Note 7. The company’s financial losses due to the debacle alone is estimated to reach up to US$17 billion (AU$22 billion).