Portable chargers are one of the most popular products in the branded merchandise industry, but they’ve been the subject of massive recalls recently due to issues with a major Chinese manufacturer.
Last month, China revoked or suspended 3C certifications from multiple battery-cell suppliers, including Apex (formerly known as Amprius), a lithium battery manufacturer based in Wuxi, China. Since then, Apex has halted production and is currently under investigation for unauthorized material changes to battery-cell components, Yicai Global reported.
Although the cells reportedly weren’t UL-certified (meaning they were unsafe for consumer use), they were still installed in products marketed as compliant.
Companies Affected
The following companies have issued recalls:
- Anker has recalled more than one million power banks after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission received 19 reports of the Anker PowerCore 10000 overheating, leading to fires or explosions.
- Romoss pulled around 490,000 units off popular digital retail sites.
- Baseus recalled about 55,000 portable chargers after receiving 76 reports of incidents.
- NEWDERY recalled its ZHX PB22 model chargers after a CPSC safety warning. It had nine reported incidents, including a fire with $2 million in damage.
- Casely recalled nearly 430,000 Power Pods in the U.S. after 51 heat related incidents.
- Around 27,500 iWalk Magnetic Wireless units were recalled after 15 incidents, including 10 burn injuries.
CH Ong, a seasoned executive in the battery market, says these recalls reflect rising global expectations around lithium battery safety.
“If the industry now internalizes rigorous process control, deeper design safety buffers and stronger supplier governance as baseline practice – not crisis response – then this may be remembered not as a failure, but as the turning point,” Ong said in a LinkedIn post.
Promo Perspective
It’s important to be ready to handle potential recalls when offering certain products. Even with known and reputable brands, the possibility of a recall will remain.
Last year, at PPAI’s Product Responsibility Summit, a panel was held discussing how to handle the possibility of being ordered to recall a product and the steps that need to be taken.
- In that situation, complying with the CPSC is absolutely critical, but the next priority is being intentional with messaging surrounding the recall.
“It’s important to move fast, but it’s also important to move smartly,” said Neal Cohen of Neal Cohen Law.
“You need to control everything, especially what the person says,” added Rick Brenner, president of Product Safety Advisors. “Yes, you want to be empathetic and show concern, [but] there should be a very disciplined and scripted response of what they can say, and the escalation process of who does what next.”
