21-11-2012, 04:16 PM
NOKIA BATTERY CRISIS
NOKIA BATTERY CRISIS.docx (Size: 270.11 KB / Downloads: 26)
HISTORY
Beginnings of the Nokia Company History were in 1865 when a wood-pulp mill was set up in Southern Finland. It sold products with the brand name Nokia.
A community called Nokia was started and still exists on the riverbank of Emakoski in southern Finland.
The Finnish Rubber Works started manufacturing in Nokia in the 1920's and branded its products, including gumboots, as Nokia.
The Finnish Cable Works also setup in Nokia, it produced cables for phone networks. By 1967 all three companies had merged to form the Nokia Group.
Nokia developed a digital switcher for telephone exchanges and also helped develop the world's first mobile phone network.
BL-5c Batteries
Nokia Corporation (Nokia) has made connectivity truly ever-present. It has emerged as a world leader in mobile technology and progressive moving towards the company’s vision of creating word everyone is connected.
PROBLEM
Although the strong strategic growth and transformation, in mid-2007 Nokia encountered a problem with the malfunctioning of its handsets due to faulty batteries which might get overheated, especially the BL-5C batteries which were used in most of Nokia’s low-end models.
The Finnish company was sourcing these batteries from the matshushita battery industrial co. ltd. (matsushita) of Japan and several other suppliers.
On august 13, 2007, Nokia issued a warning over its BL-5C batteries across the world, stating that these batteries get overheated while charging. It said that about hundred such incident of overheating had been reported globally but there were no reports of the batteries being associated with any serious injuries or damage to property.
WHAT COMPANY DID?
However, one of the priorities for Nokia was to handle this crisis well so that its brand image do not suffer due to the resultant confusion and panic among its consumers. For instance, shortly after Nokia issued the warning, millions of Nokia mobile phone users in India panicked. They checked their Nokia handsets and rushed to the nearest service center for clarification and further information.
However to their dismay the panicking customers found that the customer care centers were not in a position to help them and denied having any information from the company regarding the malfunction. The police had to be called in to lend extra security at one Nokia customer centre as anxious customers gathered there and demanded that their batteries be replaced.