Quote without comment. Any responses?
(Pronochev, I am just using your post for an entry).
Tech Center February 11, 1999
Kodak Recalls 120,000 Adapters
For Some of Its Digital Cameras
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak Co. is recalling 120,000 electrical
adapters for some of its digital cameras after batteries in at least one device
exploded, causing minor injuries to a user.
Two other buyers reported that their cameras overheated and that the batteries
ruptured. Kodak said it hasn't been sued and was acting voluntarily to protect
consumers and its brand.
The recall is the largest in Kodak's history, and its first since the early 1970s.
The adapters were sold in the U.S., Europe and Japan and allow users to use
their cameras by plugging into a wall outlet instead of relying on batteries.
The recall cost of about $3 million is minor, but analysts called it an
embarrassment for a company that is in the midst of a high-profile advertising
campaign to get consumers to buy its filmless digital products, which are an
important part of its growth strategy.
Kodak, cooperating with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
said it stopped selling the $40 to $80 adapters in August 1998, but that they
may still be in some stores. The adapter was used in Kodak's DC25, DC40,
DC50 and DC120 digital cameras; most of those models have been replaced
on retail shelves by newer models.
Elpac Electronics Inc., a closely held Irvine, Calif., company which makes the
adapter for Kodak, said the flaw was in the camera-adapter interface, and not
with the adapter itself. Kodak hasn't asked Elpac to contribute to the recall
cost. Elpac will continue making adapters for Kodak.
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