Samsung wanted to overtake Apple with Note 7: report

A desire to significantly outperform the Apple iPhone 7 could have inadvertently led to a global recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, according to a new report.

Understanding that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus would represent an incremental improvement on established standards rather than a step-change in consumer technology, Samsung pushed to make its Galaxy Note 7 handset as advanced as possible.

The resulting pressures on design, manufacture, suppliers and staff may have been responsible for a battery fault that prompted Samsung to recall 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 devices, according to a report carried by The Verge.

It's now thought that the well-received handset's more powerful 3500 mAh battery may have been a little too large for its compartment, leading to overheating issues.

"We are currently conducting a thorough inspection with our suppliers to identify possible affected batteries in the market," Samsung had said on September 2, 2016. "For customers who already have Galaxy Note7 devices, we will voluntarily replace their current device with a new one."

A subsequent software update was intended to manage existing batteries more effectively.