Cargo Carrying Vivo Y20 Smartphones Catches Fire In Hong Kong; All Shipment Barred

Vivo is in trouble as all Vivo mobile phones have been embargoed by Hong Kong Airlines. The situation came to the limelight after one of the Airline consignments carrying Vivo Y20 models caught fire at the Hong Kong airport. The incident has affected all Vivo smartphones and they won't be shipping out of Hong Kong for a while now.

Vivo Smartphones Catch Fire

The report comes from Economic Times, which got hold of an internal communication dated April 11. Here, the Hong Kong Air Cargo Carrier said: "We regret to inform you that the latest update of the embargo with immediate effect, all cargo is forbidden to accept the 'CargoLink Logistics HK Co Ltd' and 'Sky Pacific Logistics HK Co Ltd' and/or co-loader on carriage by RH/HX aircraft until further notice. Also, embargo all types of "VIVO" mobile phone."

That's not all. Ever since the Vivo Y20 phone consignment caught fire, several airlines are following suit and banning Vivo cargos. Airlines and cargo shippers fear another fire and the severe damage the shipment may cause. For now, the authorities are working on finding the cause of the fire. But it could be something to do with the battery as it's generally the most combustible source in a smartphone.

Several people who witnessed the fire took to Twitter to share footage of the blaze. It also remains unclear how many Vivo smartphone units were destroyed in the fire. If an entire cargo box was damaged, then at least thousands of Vivo Y20 smartphones were destroyed in the fire. Further, the firefighting efforts have further cause damage to the smartphones not destroyed in the fire.

What Happens To Vivo Smartphones?

Some of the latest reports suggest that Hong Kong authorities aren't allowing Vivo to export any smartphone units until the cause of the fire has been determined. Even then, Vivo will need to undergo several clearance permits and a lot of damage to take care of. This also means new smartphone units from Vivo will take a while to hit its destination market.

The Vivo fire and the consequent ban on shipping are going to be a huge blow to Vivo, not only in terms of sales but also for its brand image. To note, Vivo has been sponsoring the title for the ongoing IPL cricket tournament in India and is shelling out a huge amount on its branding. The company also signed cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador.

However, the massive fire incident has caused some massive damage to the company, which will require a lot more effort to overcome. Looking back, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones were also banned by several airlines after its battery exploded. Passengers carrying the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 were requested to give up their smartphone as well.

The issue was a massive setback for Samsung, which suffered a loss of millions of dollars. Moreover, people were skeptical to buy Samsung smartphones, fearing it would explode in their hands. Vivo might also face something similar for its smartphones, which would require a lot of wooing to convince people otherwise.