Samsung’s SmartThings update caused some smart refrigerators to shut down completely and stop working. Following outages that began on the afternoon of September 22 in South Korea, the company withdrew the update and said the problem was caused by internal testing software being accidentally sent to users.
Users reported that the devices’ lights, touchscreen panels and cooling functions had been disabled. The Bespoke AI 4-Door series launched in 2024 and later was reportedly the most affected, while Samsung announced that the devices needed to be inspected on-site by an authorized service provider. The number of affected devices was not disclosed.
Why it matters
This development shows that software updates for smart home devices do not only add new features; they can also affect the devices’ basic operation. The simultaneous disabling of the cooling, lighting and touchscreen functions indicates that the problem was not limited to the application level and prevented users from using the devices for their daily functions. For users with Bespoke AI 4-Door series models launched in 2024 and later, the requirement for an authorized service inspection indicates that the solution was not carried out remotely and automatically. However, the failure to disclose the number of affected devices leaves open questions about how widespread the error was and how many users the service process would cover.
Background
Samsung is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 30 news reports mentioning the name in the past 90 days; the most recent is dated September 27, 2026.