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On Aug. 24

Multiple reports of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones being scorched by exploding batteries while charging have appeared online.

Samsung Electronics has gone to work investigating possible causes, fearful of the potential impact on the marketing buzz it worked so hard to generate. Launched on Aug. 16, the large-screen premium smartphone has already become a popular item, with around 400,000 sales reservations.

According to accounts from Samsung Electronics and users on Aug. 30, a photograph of a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone burnt by an exploding battery has been circulating on internet bulletin boards recently. The image is captioned, “There was a Galaxy Note 7 explosion. It’s my friend’s. They’re checking it at the scene now with Samsung and discussing compensation.”

In addition to the bulletin boards, the image has also been shared via social networking services.

“Scary,” wrote one user.

“It may be an early-supply battery issue,” wrote another.

Later that afternoon, another post reporting a similar experience went on the community website Clien.

“One of the female employees at our company had her Galaxy Note 7 burn up like that picture on the internet,” the post read. “It was on the company cafeteria table. She called the Samsung service center, and 119 [emergency response] came right away to collect it.”

In all, a total of three posts or pictures so far have reported Galaxy Note 7 battery explosions. On Aug. 24, a post went up on the mobile phone user community page Ppomppu in which a user included a picture of her boyfriend’s Galaxy Note 7, which she said had exploded while charging in the early morning hours.

“This happened after less than a week of use, and the floor and blanket were scorched when it exploded,” the user wrote. “He said he was woken up by a popping sound late at night and could see smoke and smell it burning.”

Experts noted that while removable batteries can sometimes explode after internal damage from being dropped or bitten by a pet, the Galaxy Note 7 has a non-removable battery. The problem, they suggested, may lie in the overcurrent protection device.

“There should be devices in the charger stabilizer and the smartphone itself to prevent overcurrent,” said one expert. “That may be where the problem is.”

Samsung Electronics said it had collected the items reported as suffering explosions and was investigating the cause.

“We can’t say anything until the cause has been determined,” the company said.

By Kim Jae-seob, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]