Samsung Battery Supplier Hit by ... Yes, Fire

Samsung recently offered an explainer on why its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones have been exploding (it was reportedly the batteries). Now the company is going to have to get into a cruel coincidence at one of its supplier's factories. Per Bloomberg, Samsung SDI Co., one of two manufacturers that made batteries for the ill-fated devices, said a "minor fire" took place at one of its factories in northern China, though a spokesman added production wasn't halted from the incident.

Layering happenstance upon happenstance, a company rep says the Tianjin fire occurred in a waste facility, not on the production lines, and was caused by refuse that included … batteries, per Reuters. But the local fire department says what went ablaze was "lithium batteries inside the production workshops and some half-finished products." There were said to be no casualties from the fire. SDI will provide batteries for the upcoming Galaxy S8 phones, which are replacing the now-recalled Galaxy Note 7 units. (More Samsung stories.)