Chinese Government Office Bans Employees From Using Samsung Galaxy Note 7

A government office in China has banned its employees from using Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 following the device’s ban in airplanes.

Chengdu’s Government Affairs Service Center announced that it is banning employees from using the model for safety reasons, China Daily reported. Monitoring will be strengthened in an area allotted for free internet and battery recharging.

In its notice posted on Monday, the office announced:

“If visitors are found recharging Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones, you should persuade them to stop.”

Employee Jing Rong acknowledged the notice and opted to use her older iPhone 5, explaining:

“My superior said the center’s decision-makers thought the phone’s battery might cause a fire or explosion when it is recharged.”

The office announcement follows the device’s ban on airplanes by China’s Civil Aviation Administration. Specifically, passengers are banned from using or recharging the model in domestic flights or even having them in their checked luggage.

The Galaxy Note 7 made noise soon after its launch for having reported cases of overheating and exploding. Samsung informed the public that it “conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.”

Donal Finegan, a chemical engineer at University College London, commented (via Forbes):

“Battery failures are exceedingly rare. Any kind of fault does garner a lot of media attention and can really affect the reputation of a product that relies on the battery.”

In China, at least five Galaxy Note 7 users reported that their handsets exploded. Around 2.5 million units were recalled worldwide.

Samsung announced Thursday morning that over 1 million people around the world are now using “safe” Galaxy Note 7 handsets, Reuters noted.

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