The batteries used in Samsung Electronics Co.'s troubled Galaxy
Note 7 were tested by a lab that belongs to the South Korean
electronics giant, a practice that sets it apart from other
smartphone manufacturers.
To sell smartphones at major U.S. carriers, phone makers are
required to test phone batteries at one of the 28 labs certified by
the U.S. wireless industry's trade group, the CTIA, to ensure
compliance with standards set by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers.
Samsung is the only such manufacturer using in-house
battery-testing facilities for CTIA certification, according to the
association.
Samsung's battery crisis has put a spotlight on cellphone
battery testing, an otherwise mundane corner of a global industry
that shipped some 1.9 billion units last year, according to
research firm Gartner.
A spokesman for Samsung said its internal testing labs didn't
reveal any problems in the original and replacement Galaxy Note 7
phones. The device was recalled last month and then discontinued
last week after original and replacement units caught fire.
Apple Inc. said it uses third-party CTIA-certified labs to test
its batteries. Huawei Technologies Co. didn't respond to requests
for comment.
Lenovo Group Ltd.'s Motorola and Microsoft Corp.'s Nokia have
operated CTIA-certified battery labs, though the association says
both labs are being closed. Motorola said it tests batteries at its
own labs but uses third-party labs for CTIA certification.
Microsoft declined to comment.
In a statement Friday, Samsung said its plans to make
"significant changes" in its quality-assurance processes in light
of the Note 7 crisis. Samsung declined to comment on whether it has
plans to use third-party labs for battery testing.
Tom Sawanobori, the chief technology officer at the CTIA, said
the association audits test labs to ensure personnel are qualified,
that they comply with standards, and that there is no undue
influence from manufacturers. Test labs are typically in separate
facilities and under separate control, he said.
"We've certified over 1,500 batteries," he said. "This is the
first time we've had an issue."
Last week, engineers from CTIA certification labs gathered in
Atlanta for an annual meetup. While the scuttlebutt was focused on
what could be behind the Note 7's battery problem, a CTIA
representative told the gathering that neither the group nor
Samsung would discuss it, two attendees said.
In the early 2000s, as cellphones were proliferating around the
globe, a flood of cheap batteries from inexperienced manufacturers
caused increasing failures, battery experts say. In response, the
CTIA, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the IEEE
worked together in 2005 to create a voluntary program for battery
testing, which the CTIA administers.
Eddie Forouzan, a member of the IEEE committee that developed
the battery standard, says the process significantly reduced
problems, and that safety failure rates in cellphone batteries went
from being measured by the parts per million to the parts per
billion. There have been at least 92 reports of batteries
overheating in the Note 7, which went on sale in August.
Mr. Forouzan, who now runs his own lab in San Diego, says
letting manufacturers test their own phones creates the potential
for conflicts of interest.
John Copeland, who used to work for Motorola's lab and now helps
run a test lab in Atlanta, said it was normal for cellphone makers
to use their own labs because it helps the companies protect trade
secrets.
Phone makers are "very concerned about their proprietary
information leaking out," he said. Mr. Copeland said the audits
were sufficient to ensure there wasn't a conflict of interest.
Jason Howard, chair of the IEEE working group that wrote the
battery certification standard, said that "on the outside that
might make people nervous that a company is self certifying, but
that's common practice on a lot of standards." Companies that use
their own labs can get products out to market faster than if they
had to wait in a queue at an outside test lab, Mr. Howard said.
Samsung has been testing phones at its internal CTIA-certified
lab since 2009.
For CTIA certification, smartphone batteries are tested on their
own and while being operated inside a device, says Kim Tae-young,
director at the Korea Testing Laboratory, the only other
CTIA-certified battery testing lab in South Korea. The tests mainly
focus on whether batteries work properly while a phone is being
charged or used for calls, which is when they are most likely to
heat up. "We also put batteries in high temperatures that simulate
summer conditions to monitor potential overheating or combustion
hazards," he said
A spokesman for Samsung said Thursday that it is "working around
the clock" to identify causes for why some Note 7 devices caught
fire and that it was "premature" to speculate on investigation
outcomes.
Mr. Forouzan said he hopes Samsung quickly releases details
about how the batteries failed so experts can determine if safety
tests need to be improved. "They have to tell us what happened so
we can fix it."
Thomas Gryta contributed to this article.
Write to Ryan Knutson at ryan.knutson@wsj.com and Eun-Young
Jeong at Eun-Young.Jeong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2016 21:35 ET (01:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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