Report: new Galaxy Note 7 won’t use Samsung batteries

Samsung will no longer use batteries made by its subsidiary for the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, according to a report out of South Korea. Instead, China’s ATL will be making more batteries for the phablet, “industry sources” told Yonhap News.

The South Korean firm apparently contacted ATL to request that four million more batteries be manufactured, the publication reported.

Samsung’s subsidiary was reportedly responsible for most of the Galaxy Note 7 batteries

But to what extent does Samsung rely on its subsidiary for Note 7 batteries? Well, a Nomura Securities analyst says that roughly 70% of Note 7 batteries came from the subsidiary.

ATL currently makes batteries for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Yonhap adds, suggesting that supply challenges could be a concern.

Reuters has corroborated the Yonhap report, adding that the move was expected to be a short-term solution.

“We expect the situation to last for the coming one to two quarters. This will not bring any capacity issue,” the newswire quoted a source as saying.

The state-run China Daily has also confirmed the news, only saying that battery shipments will increase “greatly”.