BEIJING — Nikon will stop selling a digital camera model in China and offer free repairs, following claims on Chinese state-run television that product defects caused “black spots†on photographs.
The Tokyo-based company received a Chinese government order yesterday to stop selling its D600 cameras and asked dealers to halt sales, said Nikon spokesman Ryota Satake.
Nikon, which had sales of ¥118 billion (S$1.4 billion) in China last year, had earlier said it would service the models even after warranties expire, after a China Central Television (CCTV) investigative special showed hidden-camera footage of customers demanding refunds and exchanges while local service staff blamed dust and smog for the spots.
Nikon was one of a half dozen firms profiled by the annual “consumer day†segment of the programme 3.15, echoing the attack last year on smartphone maker Apple’s China warranties, which prompted a rare apology from the United States tech firm.
The show often spooks multinational firms and their public relations teams into crisis mode, but this year it left other big international firms relatively unscathed, choosing to focus on smaller, domestic players.
A short segment warned consumers about the dangers of online payments, coming after China’s central bank halted the mobile payment processes of initial public offering-bound Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings.
The programme also said a business owned by Shenzhen-listed Gohigh Data Networks Technology helped plant software in mobile phones to collect private information without users’ knowing about it.
In a statement issued two hours after the broadcast on Saturday, Nikon China said it “pays great attention to CCTV’s report on the Nikon D600â€, and had taken steps last month to address quality concerns, as well as offered to replace defective cameras free of charge.
Nikon closed down nearly 1.7 per cent in Tokyo yesterday, extending this year’s decline to 14 per cent.
Today’s order to halt sales came from the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce, Mr Satake said. While Nikon has already stopped direct sales of the D600, some dealers still have the model in stock and Nikon will recall them, he said.
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