Nokia battery recall: To replace faulty mobile phone batteries

Nokia Corporation has said it would replace phone batteries of customers, after receiving reports of around 100 incidents of overheating from a batch of 46 million batteries. While no serious injuries or property damage had occurred, the batteries, produced by Japanese manufacturer Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, had overheated and caused short-circuiting on certain phones.

Over 250 million BL-5C batteries made for Nokia by manufacturers other than Matsushita Electric Industrial Company have not been affected. "There have been 100 incidents out of 46 million batteries that were produced and that there is no material injury or damage to property. Statistically, it is insignificant, but the recall was precautionary," said a Nokia spokesman.

Nokia further clarified that in very rare cases, the affected batteries could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge.

Customers can check on the Nokia website if the battery in their mobile phone is affected and those with defective batteries can ask for replacements.

Matsushita, which manufactures hundreds of different electronics goods under the Panasonic brand, made 46 million of the BL-5C batteries for Nokia between December 2005 and November 2006.

Matsushita Electric will discuss replacement costs with Nokia, a spokesman for Matsushita, based in Osaka, Japan, said.

Nokia Corporation made it clear that the product advisory applied to only those batteries produced by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 and not to any other Nokia-branded batteries.

The supplier is responsible for quality, a spokeswoman for Nokia in Helsinki, capital of Finland, said. It is too early to estimate the potential cost or how many batteries will be replaced, she added.

Nokia sold 101 million mobile phones in the second quarter of 2007, a 29% increase from a year earlier.

Other manufacturers of electronics equipment have also been hit by battery recalls in 2006. In July 2006, Toshiba Corporation had to recall 10,000 Sony Corporation batteries, used in its laptops, owing to fire risks.

In October 2006, Sony recalled 9.6 million different personal-computer batteries which were used by computer makers, including Apple Incorporated, Dell Incorporated, and Lenovo Group Limited.