Sunday, September 16, 2007

Kenya: Nokia Moves to Counter Fake Batteries

Kui Kinyanjui
Mobile phone maker Nokia has announced plans to launch branded batteries to curb the use of counterfeits.
The move comes after the company's long struggle with consumer dissatisfaction caused by use of counterfeit in its devices.Beginning next year, Nokia batteries will bear a hologram and unique 10 digit alpha-numeric code to help consumers identify genuine products.Last month, the company lost billions of shillings in a consumer level recall of 46 million batteries affected by a manufacturing glitch.
Nokia issued a product advisory for branded BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial of Japan between December 2005 and November 2006. Affected batteries were said to overheat and "dislodge" during charging, exposing users to danger.
Ms Dorothy Ooko, the Nokia communications manager for East and South Africa, said the recall was ongoing and is expect to be complete by end of the year. To facilitate the recall, Nokia established call centres to handle the return and replacement programme. So far, more than 90 calls have been made to the phone manufacturers local call centre regarding the battery recalls.
Locally, the company beefed up its presence in 1,046 out of the total 1,212 mobile phone retail outlets and established a customer care line to facilitate the process. There are more than 300 million BL-5C batteries installed in phones around the world, 46 million of which were manufactured by Matsushita.
Yesterday, Nokia launched a range of new models for the Kenyan market, hoping to extend its market lead with a mix of high and low end devices.
The products - have unique cutting edge features and applications specifically designed for the entry market.
Nokia said a clearer understating of the Kenyan market had enabled it to launch its 1200, 1208, 1650, 2630 and 2760 models, which are all classified as entry level phones and cost between Sh3,000 and Sh7,000."We put this understanding into practice by developing products and applications that are relevant, easy-to-use and simple to understand, which is especially important for first-time users," said , Piotr Labuszewski, Nokia's area manger for East Africa.
Local research conducted by Informa Telecoms into phone ownership trends in the country have revealed that most Kenyans without a phone have access to and regularly use mobile phones.
The study conducted in Kenya and Nigeria found that 85 per cent of people who do not own a phone nonetheless use them to call or make transactions, indicating an emerging market for devices that allow users to

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