However, with an un-named component supplier picking up an estimated repair bill of between US$90 and US$130 million for the 8210 defect, consumers are adamant the quality problem extends beyond the single model the company has declared faulty, some may describe Lambeek's optimism as misplaced.
Lambeek recently sat down with ZDNet Australia to discuss the ongoing drama, the validity of user scepticism and its relationship with the NSW Department of Fair Trading.
As someone who's just entered the debate, what's your view of the situation regarding customer complaints?
I think we're handling the situation. We're obviously in discussions with the Department of Fair Trading and we're working with them. The details of those discussions I can't disclose, but the main thing is that we're working with them to find a good solution. Really, from the end user's perspective, we haven't seen a lot of negative fallout. I think Nokia phones are as popular as ever.
However, we take any quality issue very, very seriously and there has been, with the 8210, a problem with one of our suppliers and a specific component . There was a batch supplied at the end of last year but we found out about the problem and immediately stopped buying components from that manufacturer and, at the same time, put in place a program whereby end users affected by that problem can go back to our service centres to have their phone repaired at no charge.
Any electronic product can have these things happen to it once in a while and unfortunately it's happened to us now.
If you were the MD of Nokia Australia when all this came to light, is there anything you would have done differently?
No, I don't think so. I think we took the quality issue very seriously but we needed to look into the problem and really determine what the problem was before going and taking action. It took us some time to find out exactly what the problem was and now we're at the stage where we're taking action to reassure the end users.
Despite your admissions that 8210 has a problem , many customers believe the same problem is affecting several other Nokia model phones. As a result, many customers have labelled Nokia arrogant for not coming clean about those issues facing other models. What is your response to that?
We don't have any quality issues like we had with the 8210 with the other products. The specific problems with the 8210 was a problem with a specific component. Of course, all our other products are also electronic products so there are failures on specific products. That doesn't mean there's any kind of a systematic problem there.
But surely if you notice the same problem affecting several models from the same manufacturer, wouldn't that suggest there's a widespread, inherent design problem at work?
We've looked into this and we haven't found any problems of that sort. Occasionally, if you have any product, the display will fail.
But you said the same thing about the 8210 model - that any problems were isolated incidences - then you admitted there was indeed an inherent design fault. Why should people believe you now when you say that your other models don't carry the same fault?
We are taking action now with the 8210 and we have identified a supplier to be the cause of the problem. That applies to that product. We haven't found any similar problems with any other product.
Can you understand user scepticism about your claims that none of Nokia's other models carry any defects?
I think the thing here is to look at the facts, and the facts are that we have this one problem with the 8210 and it did take us some time to work out whether it was a problem concerning a specific supplier. We obviously look into the facts before we make statements about these kinds of things. You can't expect us to say there's a problem with the product until we've determined for sure that there is a systematic problem.
If you go to one of our service centres today, you'll see that the number of complaints (about product defects) have gone down drastically.
Can you provide any concrete figures from your authorised service centres regarding the number of complaints received in relation to your phones?
No, this is anecdotal evidence.
Surely you must have figures from these official service centres?
We obviously do, but we can't give out that information.
How long prior to making the public admission that the 8210 had problems did you discover the problem?
I'm not sure exactly.
Do you concede that at the very least, this has been a massive PR nightmare for you?
Of course I would rather this hadn't happened but we want to solve this problem. We want the end users to be reassured. Obviously the end user for us is key and we need to restore the user confidence in Nokia. Obviously this hasn't been fun for us.
Do you feel you're deserving of the criticism that's been levelled at you from your user base?
Not entirely, no. What tends to happen is that when these kinds of problems occur, you get this witch-hunt. We've been trying to get the facts, and when we get the facts, then we take action. Some people would like us to be taking action before we have all the facts, and we can't work that way.
There have been numerous reports from users who have had exactly the same problems experienced with the 8210 model on other Nokia phones such as the 8850, 8250, 5110, the 7110 and the 8890. Is there any company investigation underway to determine whether those phones are susceptible to the same problems you've admitted affected the 8210?
As I've said, we take the quality of all our products very seriously and we're continually monitoring the quality of the products. There doesn't seem to be any kind of problem with those products, other than the normal levels of failure you'd expect to have with any kind of electronic device.
Are you actively investigating the components within those models?
We're always investigating the components of our phones. We always look at improvements in display technology as part of our regular processes.
Is it fair to say that Nokia's research and development processes have failed, at least in the case of the 8210 model?
No, I don't think it's fair to say that. I think it's fair to say that we work with certain suppliers of components - of course we outsource quite a large number of our components - there's always a risk with any piece of electronic equipment that there'll be a failure and that has happened, despite the fact that the R&D did their jobs and found the right components from a performance perspective. Things occasionally do happen like this and that's unfortunate, but this isn't just in our industry, in all industries there are occasionally these types of performance problems.
Has your R&D approach changed in light of these problems?
No. We are very critical in terms of our quality standards and we continue to be, but obviously there's an enormous emphasis on quality within Nokia.
What about your relationships with your distributors and repair centres? Have these relationships suffered as a result of the massive public scrutiny Nokia products have been under since these widespread quality issues came to light?
Not in any kind of serious way. If I look at the trust in the Nokia products, the popularity of the brand and the models we have, they continue to be extremely strong and this has had practically no impact.
Even though you've offered compensation to your 8210 customers, many people who own your other mobile phone models have also complained of widespread technical defects. Given the increasing use of mobile phones as a crucial business tool, some customers are talking about the possibility of initiating a class action lawsuit against you. Is that something Nokia is concerned about?
That's not something I'd really like to comment on. We're working hard to make all our customers happy customers again, so they should take a positive approach to wanting to be happy customers, then there's a solution there for them -- that's our approach basically.
Do you believe that Nokia's market share has suffered as a result of these problems?
No.
Can you provide any figures to back that up?
I of course have market share figures, but I can't share those unfortunately. But these problems have had no impact.
There have been similar reports of widespread defects impacting various Nokia phone models from throughout the world, including North America, Asia and several countries in Europe. Are you working with your international affiliates to iron this problem out?
This 8210 issue is obviously something we've discussed across the organisation. There have been reports of this 8210 issue from a couple of markets. We obviously look at the root causes.
Can you provide an update on your work with the NSW Department of Fair Trading in regards to these consumer complaints?
We're still working with them to find a mutually acceptable solution to this problem. In terms of the details, that's not something I'm prepared to discuss.
Would you rather the details were publicly available?
That's also something I'd need to discuss with the Department of Fair Trading.
Given that Nokia claims to want to be open about this issue and wants to assure its customers that it's doing everything it can to address customer concerns, surely you'd prefer that all these details were publicly available?
I think there are always competitive drivers that stop us from giving all the appropriate information. The key thing here is looking at the consumer - what does the consumer need to know for them to be satisfied. That's what this is about - it's about the consumer and nothing else.
So you don't believe the details of this investigation are something the consumers need to be informed about in order to be satisfied that Nokia is doing all it can to rectify this situation?
I think the consumer is the one who'll judge if we come up with solutions that are satisfying to them and that's what counts.
Can you understand user unhappiness at the decision to keep such details a secret?
Not really, because if I'm a consumer who has this product, then what I'm looking for is a solution. As long as Nokia comes out and provides solutions for those consumers, I don't think I'm really going to care that much.
Has this guy been to the Ziggy Broadband Management School. See you Nokia you can keep your secrets and your phone.