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Nokia says new tests prove its cell phone batteries are safe

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 November 2003, 06:00 CST

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- New tests on cell phone batteries show that original Nokia batteries are protected against short-circuiting and are safe to use, the world's largest mobile phone maker said Tuesday.

After reports of batteries exploding and catching fire, Belgian consumer group Test-Aankoop conducted new tests using only original Nokia batteries. On Nov. 7, it released a report that inadvertently included non-original, counterfeit batteries in the test sample, Nokia said.

``We believe Test-Aankoop's new test results of original Nokia batteries erase any doubts as to the safety of Nokia products, including original Nokia batteries,'' said Janne Jormalainen, from Nokia Mobile Phones.

Last week, Test-Aankoop agreed to carry out new tests after conceding it may have mistakenly analyzed counterfeit batteries they thought were manufactured by Nokia.

Nokia, which produces some 500,0000 handsets a day, has consistently maintained that its original products are safe to use and has repeatedly warned consumers against cheap imitations.

Last week, Nokia said it will adopt aggressive measures against the manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit products. Recent raids in Belgium and Britain resulted in the seizure of Ç5 million (US$5.9 million) worth of products falsely labeled as Nokia originals, including tens of thousands of counterfeit batteries.

The Espoo-based company said imitation batteries can be difficult to distinguish from Nokia originals and provided information on its Web site on how to detect them. Nokia said the Belgian consumer watchdog confirmed the results of its tests Tuesday which it would later post on the Test-Aankoop Web site.

Test-Aankoop originally performed tests on a range of batteries used in Nokia phones. It said it found occasional problems in batteries used for the models 3210, 3310, 3330, 3510, 3510i, 5510, 6650, and 6800.

Nokia is the world market leader for cell phones, with about 36 percent of all mobile handsets sold, according to Gartner Dataquest. Nokia claims a market share of 39 percent. It has sales in 130 countries and employs some 53,000 workers.

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On the Net:

Nokia: http://www.nokia.com

Test-Aankoop: www.test-aankoop.be.

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