Samsung says China Note 7 phone fire damage caused by external heat

Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> said on Monday a Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in China that reportedly caught fire was damaged by external heating.

Battery supplier Amperex Technology Limited said earlier in the day it investigated the damaged Samsung phone with the South Korean smartphone maker and determined that its battery was not the direct source for the fire.

Samsung earlier this month announced a recall of the Note 7 smartphones across the globe including in South Korea and the United States due to faulty batteries causing some of the phones to ignite.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee in SEOUL and Michael Martina in BEIJING, editing by Louise Heavens)