PCB factory fire raises concern about Galaxy S5 availability

A huge fire destroyed a factory in Anseong, South Korea, which has been hired to manufacture PCBs (printed circuit boards) for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 flagship. The damage is estimated to be around $1 billion in equipment, despite the 287 firefighters' efforts to contain the fire.

The factory in Anseong

The fire was detected around 7AM on Sunday and even though the fire brigade arrived mere minutes after that, it seems everything, including equipment and components, was destroyed. The 279 firefighters with 81 fire trucks battled the fire over 6 hours before it was extinguished.

Samsung has already made a statement that this wasn't the only PCB factory it has employed for the Galaxy S5 PCBs and it won't affect the April 11 launch. The Korean manufacturer claims the incident won't be setting back the production of the device by a huge margin. The positive note aside, this still means the availability might suffer and some markets, if not many, will get limited availability at launch.

Source | Via