A Brief History Of Samsung's Biggest Recalls

The South Korean company Samsung has become a juggernaut in the tech world, and that is not without merit. After entering the electronics space in the late 1960s, it has grown to become one of the top manufacturers of so many devices we use on a daily basis. From televisions to smartphones to refrigerators, you can surround yourself with its products, including having a Samsung watch around your wrist at all times. Looking back, you can't help but be impressed with what the company has been able to do, considering the very first product it sold in the late 1930s was noodles.

That does not mean that everything it produces goes off without a hitch. There have been instances of some very serious problems with its products that have necessitated a widespread recall. These are not just minor glitches with an interface that needed ironing out. These issues can be incredibly dangerous and could cause serious injury or worse. While the number of these mass recalls for Samsung is fairly limited, it does not mean that they weren't highly impactful. Let's look back at some gigantic recalls for Samsung products over the years, including one that was issued not too long ago.

To jump into Samsung's history of recalls, we only need to go back to August 8, 2024, for the most recent and one of the largest for the company. This recalls concerns electric range top stoves. While it is fairly common for range top stoves like this to be activated by knobs on the front, the problem is that they are a little too easy to activate. There have been over 300 reports of customers accidentally turning the stoves on without realizing it, or their pets were able to turn it on with minimal effort. If you catch it immediately, that is okay, but if not, this could potentially be a serious fire hazard. Consequently, 250 different fires have been reported with these stoves, resulting in some severe property damage, injuries, and even the deaths of some pets.

30 different models of Samsung range top stoves were subject to this recall, totaling over 1.1 million different units. Luckily, this recall does not require you to take out your stove and bring it somewhere for repair or to exchange it for a new one. Instead, customers can contact Samsung, and they will receive either free knob locks or knob covers to remedy the situation. For added protection, Samsung stoves that are Wi-Fi enabled have the ability to notify you on your smartphone that the cooktop is on.

Samsung has two major phones on the market, the Galaxy S series and the Galaxy Z series. These have become some of the most popular smartphones out there. However, Samsung used to have another phone on the market that was incredibly popular that it no longer produces, and that is the Galaxy Note, which wrapped production in 2021 after a decade. Although the 2016 Samsung Galaxy Note 7 wasn't the last model for the phone, it may have been the beginning of the end for the Note series thanks to a massive recall that did require people to get all new devices or full refunds.

The reason behind the demise of the Galaxy Note 7 was due to the device's battery. The lithium-ion battery could overheat and catch fire, potentially causing severe damage or injuries. The phone became so notorious that the United States Department of Transportation banned all Samsung Galaxy Note 7s from airplanes because of the potential risk. 26 people reported burns from the phone, and a little more than double that reported fires that caused property damage. Samsung remedied this with its replacement phones and subsequent Galaxy Notes, but you have to wonder if the bad PR ended this nameplate a few years later.

If you are noticing a pattern with these Samsung devices, the big issue they seem to face is overheating due to a faulty design. That is not limited to range top stoves and smartphones. It also extends out to some Samsung washing machines, which already don't rank high on our list of washing machine rankings. Back in 2022, Samsung issued a recall on 14 of its top-load washers because of overheating, which could possibly — you guessed it — cause fires.

The reason for this overheating was because of the machine's control panel. Unlike the others on this list, this issue could be resolved with a software update: For customers with Wi-Fi enabled machines, you could automatically download a fix with the SmartThings app. For those without or not using Wi-Fi, they needed to contact Samsung to receive a dongle to plug into their washer and download that software update. This was actually the very first recall fixed with over-the-air software in the history of home appliances. You don't necessarily want a recall to be historic, but this one was.

This isn't the first time Samsung washing machines had been recalled, either. Over 2.8 million were in 2016, around the same time as the Galaxy Note 7. This was due to an issue with the top coming off the washer. For this, customers could either have it repaired, or they could get a rebate to put towards a new one.