'Battery problems to blame for recall'

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Monday flaws in battery manufacturing and design have led to the global recall of its flagship model the Galaxy Note 7.

Koh Dong-jin, Samsung's mobile division president, said at a news conference it was the battery, not the device itself or software, that had caused the business crisis. The recall was estimated to cost more than $6 billion.

After testing more than 200,000 Note 7 smartphones, the company found defects in two separate sets of batteries that caused overheating and even fires.