The Case of the Exploding Smartphone

How Samsung survived one of tech history’s worst disasters

Licensed from iStock

Jonathan Strobel of Boca Raton, Florida was shopping in a Costco store on September 9, 2016 when the smartphone in his front pants pocket exploded. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 burned through Strobel’s pants leg. He had a second-degree burn on his right thigh and another burn on his thumb when he tried to…