NEC Admits Its Desktops Caught Fire in Japan

Two NEC desktop computers in Japan have caught fire since late last year, and NEC is now offering to replace faulty power units at the root of the problem, the electronics giant said on Monday.

The first Valuestar computer caught fire in October 2005 and the second in November this year, said Akiko Shikimori, an NEC spokeswoman. The culprit is a component within the power unit inside the computer. The component and the power unit are not manufactured by NEC, but she could not reveal which company makes them.

The power unit overheats, and if the customer continues to use the desktop it can cause a fire, she said.

No one was injured in the two reported cases, she said.

NEC manufactured the computers between November 2003 and June 2004, and 14,600 are in use in Japan, mainly by consumers. The company will exchange the faulty power unit for a new one for all users of the computers, she said.

Millions of laptop computer batteries, made by Sony, have recently been recalled due to a problem that could cause fires, but that issue has been confined to laptops and battery power. Sony is replacing 9.6 million laptop computer batteries in a recall expected to cost it 51.2 billion yen (US$433 million).

-Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau)

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