Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson said today it was withdrawing from the market its first shipment of new-technology GPRS mobile phones due to a flawed factory installation.
The flawed phones, Ericsson's recently launched R520 model, have been sent to retailers in Sweden and one or two other European countries.
"There's an error in the phone's set-up which means you get a shorter standby time than was said previously," Ericsson spokeswoman Ms Monica Rubensson said today.
She said only a small volume of phones was affected but declined to be more precise.
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) technology offers mobile phone users a fast Internet connection and always on-line capability. The R520 is Ericsson's first GPRS phone.
The company, whose mobile phone division has had major problems, losing market share in recent years and posting a huge loss in 2000, said on March 21st shipments of the R520 had just begun.
