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BURNT UP: The fake battery in a mobile phone could explode as manufacturers of counterfeits cut corners by leaving out safety devices that prevent overcharging. -- PHOTO: WWW.INTOMOBILE.COM
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BE CAREFUL when buying fake accessories like phone batteries and MP3 player earphones online as safety could be an issue, warn consumer electronics giants such as Motorola and Nokia.
Consumer safety is an issue since the fakes are typically made under less stringent conditionsm, said Motorola spokesman Lena Goh.
Another tech giant, Nokia, takes the 'inferior quality' of counterfeits so seriously that it has 'constant global enforcement activities to protect consumers and Nokia's business', said a spokesman for the company.
Sources familiar with the counterfeit trade told The Straits Times that the manufacturers of counterfeits cut corners by leaving out safety devices that stop batteries from overcharging or by using lower-quality materials.
Accidents involving fake accessories have made the news both locally and globally.
In Singapore, a fake phone battery resulted in a fire in February, and a counterfeit Samsung Bluetooth charger sparked and caused an electrical short last year.
Last July, China's press reported the case of a farm worker who died after a counterfeit Motorola mobile phone battery exploded in his shirt pocket, driving bone splinters into his heart.
Safe or not, those peddling these fakes find the opportunity to make a quick buck is just far too attractive to pass up.
Motorola's Ms Goh noted that margins can be as high as 400 per cent in some cases. The most common counterfeits are 'batteries, Bluetooth headsets, power supplies, cellphone housings...in that order'.
Many of the fakes, said the Nokia and Motorola spokesmen, are being sold by enterprising individuals at mail-order sites, auction sites or makeshift stalls in Singapore and elsewhere, including Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
To lend credence to their products, many sellers claim that their goods are originals - excess 'factory overruns' that are thus being sold off at steep discounts.
But Motorola's Ms Goh dismissed this, saying 'there is no such thing as a factory overrun'.
Other scammers, said the Nokia spokesman, 'mix Nokia original goods with counterfeit accessories, making it even harder for consumers to spot what is genuine'.
Consumer electronics firms such as Sony, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola have all been stung by counterfeiters passing off their fakes as the real thing online, their spokesmen told The Straits Times.
Globally, the Alliance for Grey Market and Counterfeit Abatement estimates that up to 10 per cent of all technology-related goods sold could be counterfeits.
But those who flout the law have to beware the consequences.
Three weeks ago, a woman was fined $4,000 by the courts for selling fake Creative earphones online. And last Wednesday, a couple peddling fake Nokia batteries online accepted an out-of-court settlement with the phone giant (see other story).
chuahh@sph.com.sg
The burning issue: Fakes could set your phone on fire Many sellers claim that their goods are originals, but are excess 'factory overruns' that are thus being sold off at steep discounts. But Motorola says there is no such thing as a factory overrun.
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