So what’s happening?

Samsung launched its latest Note device, the Note 7, only a few weeks ago. Generally, the response has been good, and Samsung said the preorders for the device in Ireland were strong.

But?

But...apparently some Samsung Note 7 devices have a battery problem that means they are catching fire. As of September 1st, about 35 cases have been reported globally, Samsung says, but it is issuing a recall to replace them all. It is also stopping sales of the devices until it solves the problem.

That’s going to be expensive.

Probably. The Note 7 has been released in 10 countries and there are have been around 2.5 million handsets sold. Better safe than sorry though.

What exactly is the problem?

Samsung said it was looking into it, but it had found a problem with the manufacturing process that affected some – but maybe not all – batteries. They’re trying to identify the affected phones.

This is really bad timing, isn’t it?

Yes. Not only is it casting a bit of a shadow over the Note 7 launch, which was looking quite good, it also comes a week before Apple unveils its newest iPhones. The competition is set to ramp up a bit more in the coming days, and it's the last thing that Samsung needs in a very competitive market.

This isn’t the first time we’ve had exploding phones though.

No, but it is extremely rare. Every once in a while a report of a smartphone – including iPhones, Droids and Samsungs – catching fire makes the news. Some people have had incredibly lucky near misses, while others have been less fortunate. Apart from inflicting some serious burns, there have been a few recorded deaths in the incidents, including one in 2009 when an exploding phone severed a man’s artery.

That’s worrying.

Yes, but think of how many phones there are out there and put the incidents in context. You can also take some precautions, such as avoiding charging your phone in extremes of temperature, sticking to official batteries if you need to replace yours, and so on.