Apple’s iPhone8 Plus is expected to be released in South Korea without any actions taken while there has been a concern about its stability due to swelling of its battery which has happened various places of the world.
Possibility of unexpected damage due to swelling cannot be ignored as well. There are strong public opinions that want at least some kind of tests on batteries before iPhone 8 Plus is officially released.
“Although we do know about concerns on swelling of batteries of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, we cannot test their safety as of now since we have yet to receive any proper amount of supplies.” said a representative for a mobile network provider. “We have yet to hear anything from Apple.” Mobile network providers are saying that there is a lack of time to test batteries since they receive their supplies right before iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are released.
It is heard that Apple Korea also did not perform any safety tests of batteries. Apple Korea and mobile network providers are going to release iPhone 8 series on the 3rd of November as originally scheduled in spite of growing concerns on swelling of batteries.
There were 11 cases of swelling incidences of iPhone 8 Plus’ batteries in 6 countries. Although Apple announced that it will investigate internally, it did not mention regarding ways of investigation and corresponding products and is continuing to sell iPhone 8 series without any measures.
Swelling is a phenomenon where electrolyte inside of a battery expands as it changes into gas. Depending on how much a batter sells, there is a higher chance that a battery may explode which will result to serious damage such as serious burned skin.
Although Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) knows about the swelling problem of iPhone 8 Plus, it does not have any legal right to investigate the swelling problem of iPhone 8 Plus before it is released.
“We are carefully observing swelling phenomenon of iPhone 8 Plus as there was the battery incidence of Galaxy Note 7 last year.” said a representative for KATS. “Because we cannot do anything with products that are not currently distributed in markets according to Basic Laws on Safety of Products, we can only examine iPhone 8 series after they are released.” It is expected that there will be significant amount of controversy when a swelling phenomenon is received officially.
There is a chance that iPhone 8 Plus may become the first product to be applied with ‘Guideline on Recall of Devices’ that was announced by South Korean Government. According to this guideline, manufacturers can recall their devices on their own whenever they find out that their devices can harm users due to defects in manufacturing and design.
If a manufacturer receives a warning or an order for a recall from Central Administration Organization according to Basic Laws on Safety of Products, it needs to carry out a recall immediately.
“Because South Korea is not much conscious about safety of consumers, it does not take any separate actions if there are not any incidences.” said Director Yoon Moon-yong of Green Consumer Network in Korea’s ICT Policy Bureau. “South Korean Government must make it an obligation to investigate samples of products that have possibilities of causing accidents before they are released since this is a problem that is directly connected to safety of consumers.”
Staff Reporter Choi, Jaepil | jpchoi@etnews.com