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Apple says older iPods have battery problem
Apple said yesterday that iPod music players sold in 2005 and 2006 on rare occasion can overheat, fail and deform because of a battery defect traced to a single supplier, and that other models are fine.
- AP
- Published: 23:43 August 20, 2008
Tokyo: Apple said yesterday that iPod music players sold in 2005 and 2006 on rare occasion can overheat, fail and deform because of a battery defect traced to a single supplier, and that other models are fine.
Apple's comments in a statement follow a disclosure by the Japanese government on Tuesday that it is investigating a possible battery defect in the first-generation iPod Nano.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that it had received three reports of iPod Nano models overheating - two in Tokyo and one in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo.
The problem machines overheated, sending out sparks in one case, and scorching nearby paper and a woven straw mat in the other cases, government official Hiroyuki Yoshitsune said.
Apple said such problems are extremely rare, at "less than 0.001 per cent of the first-generation iPod Nano" models sold.
"There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage, and no reports of incidents for any other iPod Nano model," Apple, based in California, said in a statement.
Any customers who are worried about their iPod Nano devices, sold between September 2005 and December 2006, should contact AppleCare services, it said.
The government has been working with Apple to investigate the cause of the problem, and a defect in the lithium-ion battery had been suspected. The iPods overheated while they were being re-charged, according to the ministry reports.
Series of blazes
Lithium-ion batteries have been blamed for a series of blazes in laptops that have resulted in massive global recalls.
Apple's iPod players are extremely popular in Japan and coveted as fashion items although Japanese manufacturers produce a host of iPod rivals. The Japan introduction of Apple's iPhone drew long lines in Tokyo last month.
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