Samsung is blaming poorly designed and manufactured batteries for the overheating problems that caused some of its Galaxy Note 7 phones to catch fire, CNN reports.

"Our investigation, as well as the investigations completed by three independent industry organizations, concluded that batteries were found to be the cause of the Note 7 incidents," the world's largest smartphone maker said Monday.

The results of the months-long investigation are Samsung's second attempt at explaining what went wrong with the flagship phone. The first time around, Samsung (SSNLF) blamed the problem on one of its battery suppliers, but its initial response failed to stop the reports of fires and it was eventually forced to kill the product entirely.

The fiasco over the phone wiped out billions of dollars of profits and tarnished Samsung's brand around the world.

On Monday, Samsung and independent investigators said problems were found in batteries from two different suppliers -- the ones that started catching fire right after the phone's launch in August and also those used as replacements.

The first battery's outer casing was too small to accommodate the components inside, causing them to short-circuit and overheat, according to the investigations. The second battery's overheating stemmed from other design defects and a missing key component.

Samsung did acknowledge that it may have asked too much of its battery suppliers.

The company finally killed off the Note 7 altogether in early October. Samsung said Monday that 96% of about 3 million Note 7 devices have been returned.

Source: CNN