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Nokia Cites Fake Batteries in Phone Explosions
HELSINKI (Reuters) -
Nokia (news - web sites) Thursday pointed the finger at
counterfeit batteries after another of its phones exploded and
burned its user, the third such case in two months, and said
original batteries sold with its phones were safe.
The world's largest mobile phone maker said earlier a young
Vietnamese woman was hospitalized with burns after her mobile
phone apparently exploded.
The incident follows two similar accidents in the
Netherlands, one last week and the other in August.
Following the latest Dutch incident, which left a
15-year-old boy in the town of Hengelo with leg burns, the
country's consumer watchdog said it would probe the case.
"We don't yet have any information on what is the origin of
the battery in the Vietnam case," Nokia Mobile Phones spokesman
Kari Tuutti told Reuters.
"(But) there hasn't been a single case of an original
battery exploding anywhere in the world," he said.
Nokia has cited faulty batteries from independent
electronics manufacturers for similar incidents in the past.
Nokia has said these manufacturers violated security
requirements which should prevent the battery heating up after
short circuiting, for instance, after the phone was dropped.
Contraband and counterfeit mobile phone batteries are
widely available in Vietnam in local markets at around $2-$3 a
piece compared to $20 for genuine product, a local Nokia
spokesman said.
"The biggest issue is with counterfeit, illegal batteries,"
Tuutti said. "Therefore we recommend that retailers and
consumers try to verify the products sold have original
batteries."
Mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular in Vietnam
despite modest incomes and there are around 1.6 million mobile
phone users among the population of 80 million.
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