LG Electronics is concerned over speculation that its laptops might have ``significant’’ technical flaws in the wake of recent battery-related troubles.
The company is now considering follow-up measures, including the recall of some laptop models.
Last Friday, the country’s second-largest consumer electronics manufacturer said it will halt sales of the ``Z1-A2007’’ model after a report of a battery meltdown. According to company officials, about 5,000 of the model have so far been produced since January 2007.
However, the company has refused to recall the notebooks immediately for intensified safety checks and even worse, the local electronics giant has yet to find out how many of the Z1-A2007 models have been sold after the introduction and the remaining stocks.
``We will decide whether to conduct the recall after the ongoing investigation with LG Chemical, the manufacturer of the battery,’’ a spokesperson from LG Electronics told The Korea Times.
``We still have not found the exact cause in the case,'' the official added.
LG said the laptops are no longer produced and have been sold only in South Korea.
In 2006, Japanese consumer electronics manufacturer Sony recalled 10 million laptop batteries to check for possible defects after its lithium-ion batteries caught fire. The recall cost Sony some $430 million. U.S.-based Dell took similar steps after it found battery-related defects in its laptops.
In January this year, another battery produced by LG Chemical and used in an LG Electronics ``Z1-A700K’’ laptop exploded. LG and LG Chemical later promised that they will seek ways to improve the safety of the products after an independent investigation into that explosion found the incident was a ``one time only’’ and caused by ``an external shock at an extremely high temperature.’’
During an investigation, the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute suggested the explosion would not have occurred during normal use.
``We are worried about the proliferation of safety problems,’’ said an LG Electronics official.
``How can the company guarantee there won’t be a similar case in the future? LG needs to present fast and definitive follow-up measures,’’ said 27-year-old Han Jong-woo, who has used an LG-brand laptop for three years.
In 2004, LG pulled an electric pressure cooker after a series of consumer reports of cookers exploding due to technical glitches.
LG then launched a massive recall campaign of those goods, an embarrassing move for the company, which aims to become the worlds’ No. 5 consumer electronics giant by 2010
By Kim Yoo-chul
yckim@koreatimes.co.kr
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/
