Samsung has acknowledged to Dutch site Tweakers that the Samsung Galaxy S III can abruptly die to a mainboard failure. The issue is apparently limited to “a very limited number” of the 16GB model, according to spokeswoman Anne ter Braak. While this would suggest to most that a hardware issue is the culprit, Samsung has identified the root cause and promises to resolve it with a software update.
Users reporting the issue indicate that the smartphone will randomly fail after between 150 and 200 days of use. It affects both stock and rooted devices. To date, Samsung has been replacing affected handsets under warranty.
Samsung has now identified the issue as a firmware bug. This will allow it to fix it with a firmware update rather than having to modify its manufacturing processes.
Samsung has yet to provide a specific schedule as to when it will provide the update but it promises that it will be done as soon as possible.
Read more: Tweakers (in Dutch) [Google translation] (Source: Phandroid)