While detailing the flaws in battery that led to smokes and fire in the short-lived Galaxy Note7, Samsung Electronics has decided not to rush with the release of the next flagship Galaxy S8 series until is completely confident with the safety of future mobile devices under pressure to feature cutting-edge technologies on top of a ultra-thin and light design.

The next flagship will, therefore, skip the usual unpacking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona slated for February.

“Technology innovation is important to Samsung, but our customers’ safety is more important. We want to reinstate trust in the brand, To regain trust, Samsung had to identify the root cause of the issues with the Galaxy Note7 and apply these learnings to future product designs,” Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung Electronics’ mobile communications business said in the press conference announcing the result of three-month extensive lab test on recalled Galaxy Note7 phones together with overseas experts.

Its extensive test in a newly created lab staffed with 700 researchers had scrutinized 200,000 devices and 30,000 batteries in various circumstances. Its own and separate test labs UL and Exponent of the United States and TUV Rheinland of Germany that assessed software, hardware, manufacturing, logistics, and handling, discovered flaws from the batteries of two suppliers. Although the causes were different, the defects pointed to the fundamental conundrum of the over-stressed battery to meet the handset industry’s demand for thinner phones with longer battery life.

Admitting to its negligence in quality control, Samsung has established stricter quality scrutiny guideline that Samsung and its parts suppliers must keep to. The eight-point safety system on lithium ion batteries requires durability test, visual inspection, X-ray test, disassembling test, leakage test, voltage test, charge and discharge test, and accelerated usage test to ensure safety.

Samsung will seek standardization of the battery scrutiny with international bodies to ensure all battery makers stick to the tough protocol.

The electronics maker also institutionalized a body of independent supervisors to keep a third-eye check on key components from design to manufacturing and test.

By Lee Dong-in

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