Apple to Report to Consumer Agency on IPod Nano Fires By End of August
Apple Inc. has until the end of this month to report to Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency on its efforts to warn users that some iPod Nano music players may overheat and catch fire.
The agency yesterday asked for the report to be submitted by Aug. 31, Kiyomu Taki, an official at the Tokyo-based organization, said by telephone today.
Apple earlier this week updated its Japanese website to say it will offer replacements for music players that overheat, following calls by the government to take measures to prevent the devices from catching fire. The company had previously only offered to change the device’s battery.
Cupertino, California-based Apple has also contacted those iPod owners who registered their email addresses, warning of the dangers, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a separate statement today. The ministry said Apple yesterday responded to its earlier request for information, detailing additional safety measures.
Six incidents involving the 2005 model Nano catching fire while being charged have been reported to the government since 2008, trade ministry spokesman Hiroshi Miyashita said last month.
This is the second time Japan has warned that the iPod Nanos may pose a fire hazard. In 2008, the government said there had been at least three fires linked to the music players since 2005 because of malfunctioning batteries. Apple said at the time there were “very few” such reports and that there were no reports of incidents with other Nano models.
To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page