Nokia to Replace 14mn Chargers

Just a couple of weeks ago, Nokia charged Apple, Inc. with patent infringement, claiming that apple used Nokia technology without paying any licensing fees. The outcome of that case is still to be decided, and with potential fines or a loss for Apple resulting in a billion dollar licensing fee, Nokia is surely hoping to win. Read the full story: Nokia sues Apple.

Apple's product, the iPhone has already eaten into Nokia's smartphone market share, and Nokia is doing all it can to try and regain that lost market share. Unfortunately for Nokia though, things don't seem to be going its way, with a new charger problem cropping up. Nokia is replacing almost 14 million chargers, due to a problem that might give consumers an electric shock.

In a statement, the world's largest producer of cell phones said, "The plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger's internal components and potentially posing an electrical shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket".

The chargers, which are made by a Chinese company, BYD, were from a batch produced between April and October 2009. Though BYD will bear the cost of replacing the chargers, this might adversely affect the Nokia brand name, though Nokia is confident that this would not be the case.

The affected charger models include the AC-3E, AC-3U and AC-4U, and free replacements will be available for users with the defective chargers at chargerexchange.nokia.com. While there are 14mn chargers to be replaced, there seem to be no injuries or accidents caused by this problem as yet. As a safety measure, Nokia has advised all users who have chargers made by BYD and purchased between April and October to stop using those chargers and seek a free replacement.

Both, Nokia as well as BYD, are confident that this incident will not impact the companies either financially or business wise. However, with the mobile phone market fiercely competitive, such incidents might drive consumers to another brand, something Nokia is well aware of.