Published Date: 2016-11-08
| Postmortem Analysis | |
|---|---|
| Timeline | 1. The software failure incident involving the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 occurred in 2016. [49443] |
| System | The software system that failed in the software failure incident reported in Article 49443 is the software system of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 devices. The specific components or versions that failed include: 1. Software update that only allows the devices to charge to 60% and shows a reminder pop-up notification [49443]. 2. Software, hardware, manufacturing, and overall battery structure of the Galaxy Note 7 devices [49443]. 3. Software system that was supposed to prevent the battery explosions but failed, leading to the recall of 2.5 million flagship Note 7 devices [49443]. 4. Software system that was supposed to manage the battery charging and prevent overheating, but failed, resulting in the fire-prone batteries and explosions [49443]. 5. Software system that was supposed to ensure the safety and proper functioning of the Galaxy Note 7 devices but failed, leading to the discontinuation of the product [49443]. |
| Responsible Organization | 1. Samsung - The software failure incident was caused by Samsung's decision to release a software update that crippled the Galaxy Note 7 handsets, only allowing them to charge to 60% and displaying a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their device [49443]. |
| Impacted Organization | 1. Consumers who owned the Galaxy Note 7 devices were impacted by the software failure incident, as Samsung announced plans to cripple the handsets with a software update that only allows owners to charge their batteries to 60% and shows a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their Note7 device [49443]. 2. Samsung as a company was impacted by the software failure incident, leading to a 30 percent plunge in Samsung's third-quarter profits due to the Galaxy Note 7 debacle [49443]. |
| Software Causes | 1. The software cause of the failure incident was a software update that was planned to cripple the handsets by only allowing owners to charge their batteries to 60% and showing a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their Note7 device [49443]. |
| Non-software Causes | 1. Lithium-ion battery explosions while charging and at other times led to the failure incident [49443]. 2. Flaw in the manufacturing process resulted in negative and positive electrodes coming together, causing battery issues [49443]. 3. Environmental impact due to the disposal of 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 devices [49443]. 4. Use of toxic materials such as arsenic, lead, and mercury in the manufacturing of smartphones [49443]. 5. Concerns about child labor in mining cobalt used in smartphones [49443]. |
| Impacts | 1. The software failure incident involving the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 resulted in a 30 percent plunge in Samsung's third-quarter profits [49443]. 2. The incident led to a recall of some 2.5 million flagship Note 7 devices due to complaints of lithium-ion battery explosions while charging [49443]. 3. Samsung announced a software update that would limit the charging of the Note 7 batteries to 60% and display a reminder pop-up notification during charging, rebooting, or screen activation [49443]. 4. The incident prompted Samsung to permanently discontinue the Galaxy Note 7 and ask users to return their devices for a refund or exchange [49443]. 5. Samsung faced environmental concerns and criticism from Greenpeace regarding the disposal of the recalled Note 7 devices and the potential environmental impact [49443]. |
| Preventions | 1. Implementing thorough testing procedures for hardware and software components to detect any potential issues before mass production and release [49443]. 2. Allowing user-removable batteries in the design of the smartphone to facilitate easier replacement and reduce the risk of battery-related incidents [49443]. 3. Prioritizing environmental sustainability by investing in technologies for proper recycling and recovery of materials from electronic devices, rather than resorting to inefficient recycling methods or landfill disposal [49443]. |
| Fixes | 1. Samsung could have avoided the disaster by giving the Note 7 devices a user-removable battery, which would have allowed for easier replacement and potentially prevented the battery issues that led to explosions [49443]. 2. Samsung could have conducted a full and open investigation into the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, examining every aspect of the device including hardware, software, manufacturing, and the overall battery structure to identify and rectify the root cause of the issue [49443]. 3. Samsung could have implemented better design choices, such as allowing customers to remove the battery themselves, as they did with previous smartphone models, to facilitate safer battery replacement and reduce the risk of fire hazards [49443]. 4. Samsung could have focused on minimizing the environmental impact of the recall by finding ways to reuse rare materials such as cobalt, gold, palladium, and tungsten in the discontinued smartphones, rather than considering dumping them or inefficient recycling methods [49443]. 5. Samsung could have invested in technology for precious metal recovery systems to properly recycle and harvest the minerals from the smartphones, ensuring a more sustainable and environmentally friendly disposal process [49443]. | References | 1. Samsung spokesperson (Jason Koebler with Motherboard) [49443] 2. Greenpeace [49443] 3. Gary Cook, senior corporate campaigner and IT sector analyst at Greenpeace [49443] 4. IEEE [49443] |
| Category | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Recurring | unknown | The articles do not mention any specific software failure incident happening again at the same organization or at multiple organizations. Therefore, the information about the software failure incident happening again at one organization or multiple organizations is unknown. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) | design, operation | (a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the case of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. The article mentions that the lithium-ion battery in the flagship Note 7 exploded while charging, leading to a global recall of the smartphones. This design flaw in the battery contributed to the failure of the device [49443]. (b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase can be observed in the decision by Samsung to cripple the handsets with a software update that only allows owners to charge their batteries to 60% and shows a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their Note7 device. This operational measure was taken to mitigate the risk of further incidents due to the faulty batteries [49443]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) | within_system, outside_system | (a) The software failure incident related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 involved a boundary that was within the system. The failure was primarily caused by issues related to the lithium-ion battery exploding while charging, as well as other times, leading to a global recall of the smartphones [49443]. Samsung announced plans to cripple the handsets with a software update that only allows owners to charge their batteries to 60% and shows a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their Note7 device [49443]. (b) The software failure incident also had contributing factors that originated from outside the system. For example, there were concerns raised by environmental groups like Greenpeace regarding the potential environmental impact of the recall and disposal of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. Greenpeace called on Samsung to find a way to reuse rare materials such as cobalt, gold, palladium, and tungsten in the discontinued smartphones that were being taken back [49443]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) | non-human_actions, human_actions | (a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions: The software failure incident in the article was primarily related to the Galaxy Note 7 devices experiencing battery explosions and fires. This was attributed to a flaw in the lithium-ion battery, which is a non-human factor introduced during the manufacturing process [49443]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions: The article mentions that Samsung made some poor design choices with the Galaxy Note 7, particularly in the design of the battery. The decision to seal the battery in the device with adhesive, making it difficult to remove, was highlighted as a human action that contributed to the failure [49443]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) | hardware | (a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware: - The article mentions that the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 faced a major software issue where a software update was planned to cripple the handsets by only allowing them to charge to 60% and showing a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their device [49443]. - The article also discusses the battery issues with the Galaxy Note 7, where the lithium-ion battery exploded while charging, leading to a global recall of the smartphones. This indicates a hardware issue with the battery itself [49443]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to software: - The article does not specifically mention any software failure incident originating solely from software issues. The main focus of the article is on the hardware-related problems, such as the battery explosions and the planned software update to limit charging [49443]. - Therefore, based on the information provided in the article, there is no direct evidence of a software failure incident originating from software-related issues. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) | non-malicious | (a) The software failure incident related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 involved a non-malicious objective. The failure was primarily due to issues with the lithium-ion battery exploding while charging, leading to safety concerns and a global recall of the smartphones. Samsung acknowledged the problem and took steps to address it, such as recalling the devices, discontinuing the model, and implementing a software update to limit battery charging to 60% [49443]. (b) There is no indication in the articles that the software failure incident was malicious. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) | poor_decisions | (a) The intent of the software failure incident was poor_decisions. Samsung made poor design choices with the Galaxy Note 7, such as shifting to using adhesive to put the battery in, making it difficult to remove. This decision contributed to the fire hazard issue with the phones, leading to the recall and eventual discontinuation of the device [49443]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) | development_incompetence | (a) The software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence: - The software failure incident with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was primarily due to a design flaw in the lithium-ion battery, which led to explosions and fires while charging [49443]. - Samsung admitted that they fell short on their promise of delivering breakthrough technologies and enriched people's lives, indicating a failure in the development process [49443]. - The failure led to a recall of 2.5 million flagship Note 7 devices, showcasing a significant oversight in the development and manufacturing process [49443]. (b) The software failure incident occurring due to accidental factors: - The incidents of exploding batteries in the Galaxy Note 7 were not intentional but were a result of a flaw in the manufacturing process where the negative and positive electrodes came together, causing the batteries to explode [49443]. - Samsung did not plan on the devices becoming fire hazards, indicating that the failures were accidental rather than intentional [49443]. - The failure was attributed to a flaw in the manufacturing process, suggesting that it was an accidental introduction of contributing factors that led to the software failure incident [49443]. |
| Duration | permanent | The software failure incident related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was considered a permanent failure. Samsung permanently discontinued the Galaxy Note 7 due to the fire-prone batteries, and they had no plans to repair or refurbish the faulty devices [49443]. The failure was attributed to poor design choices, specifically the use of non-user-removable batteries, which led to the recall and eventual discontinuation of the device [49443]. |
| Behaviour | crash | (a) crash: The software failure incident in the articles can be categorized as a crash. The incident involved a software update pushed by Samsung to Galaxy Note 7 devices that crippled the handsets by limiting the battery charge to 60% and showing a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their device. This update essentially rendered the devices unable to perform their intended functions fully, leading to a significant impact on the usability of the smartphones [49443]. |
| Layer | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Perception | None | None |
| Communication | None | None |
| Application | None | None |
| Category | Option | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Consequence | property, non-human, theoretical_consequence | (a) death: People lost their lives due to the software failure - No information about people losing their lives due to the software failure was mentioned in the articles [49443]. (b) harm: People were physically harmed due to the software failure - No information about people being physically harmed due to the software failure was mentioned in the articles [49443]. (c) basic: People's access to food or shelter was impacted because of the software failure - No information about people's access to food or shelter being impacted due to the software failure was mentioned in the articles [49443]. (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure - The software failure incident related to the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 resulted in significant financial losses for Samsung, with a 30 percent plunge in third-quarter profits [49443]. (e) delay: People had to postpone an activity due to the software failure - No information about people having to postpone an activity due to the software failure was mentioned in the articles [49443]. (f) non-human: Non-human entities were impacted due to the software failure - The software failure incident led to concerns about the environmental impact of disposing of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, with experts warning about the potential environmental disaster and the challenge of properly recycling electronic devices [49443]. (g) no_consequence: There were no real observed consequences of the software failure - The software failure incident had real observed consequences, such as financial losses for Samsung and concerns about the environmental impact of disposing of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones [49443]. (h) theoretical_consequence: There were potential consequences discussed of the software failure that did not occur - The articles discussed potential consequences related to the environmental impact of disposing of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, such as the need for proper recycling methods and the challenge of recovering valuable materials from the devices [49443]. (i) other: Was there consequence(s) of the software failure not described in the (a to h) options? What is the other consequence(s)? - No other specific consequences of the software failure were mentioned in the articles [49443]. |
| Domain | manufacturing | The software failure incident reported in the news articles is related to the manufacturing industry. The incident specifically involves the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which had a critical flaw in their lithium-ion batteries causing them to explode while charging or at other times. This led to a global recall of 2.5 million flagship Note 7 devices [49443]. The failure of the battery in the smartphones had a significant impact on Samsung, resulting in a 30 percent plunge in Samsung's third-quarter profits [49443]. Additionally, the incident led to Samsung taking out full-page advertisements in major US newspapers to apologize for the Galaxy Note 7 scandal, acknowledging that they fell short on their promise of delivering breakthrough technologies [49443]. Samsung announced plans to cripple the handsets with a software update that only allows owners to charge their batteries to 60% and displays a reminder pop-up notification every time a consumer charges, reboots, or turns on the screen of their Note7 device [49443]. Furthermore, the environmental impact of the Galaxy Note 7 discontinuation was also highlighted, with concerns raised about the proper disposal of the 2.5 million devices and the potential environmental consequences of not reusing valuable materials and components [49443]. Greenpeace called on Samsung to find a way to reuse rare materials such as cobalt, gold, palladium, and tungsten in the discontinued smartphones [49443]. In conclusion, the software failure incident involving the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones primarily affected the manufacturing industry, with implications for environmental sustainability and resource management. |
Article ID: 49443