Nokia recalls faulty handset battery

Helsinki: Nokia Corp warned Tuesday that up to 46 million batteries used in some of the company's handsets could be faulty and pose a risk of overheating.The advisory applies to batteries manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. between December 2005 and November 2006, the world's largest mobile phone maker said.Japan's Matsushita is one of several suppliers that have together made some 300 million BL-5C batteries. The lithium-ion battery is one of 14 different types of battery used in Nokia phones.

Nokia said 100 incidents of overheating of the Matsushita-made BL-5C batteries had been reported worldwide, but added that "no serious injuries or property damage have been reported."

Last year, Sony Corp recalled more than 10 million laptops after it discovered that lithium-ion batteries used in them could overheat and catch fire. The recalls included notebooks made by other major computer makers, including Dell Inc, Lenovo Inc, Apple Inc and Acer Inc.

Nokia sells products in 130 countries and employs 110,000 people worldwide. In the second quarter, it sold 100 million mobile devices, claiming a 38 per cent share of the global market.

Source: MSN India

• What will happen to the Nokia brand image - one opinion is that it has released the total volume of batteries produced by the supplier during the time period which other manufacturers also bought, so quickly recalling the batteries before other competitors in a way I think saves the brand image.....?
• Who bears the cost of the recall and how are the logistics of it handled?
• What happens to the supplier during the recall? Most of the times companies push to supplier to bear the cost of the recall?
• It is much more of a power play issue, with Matshushita being among a large group of suppliers supplying a generic battery industry, it would be interesting to watch who bears the cost and how Nokia's supply strategy is changes a response to this?