46 million batteries in Nokia phones found faulty
After global scares over laptop batteries heating up and catching fire which led to large-scale battery recalls, it is the turn of mobile phones now.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: After global scares over laptop batteries heating up and catching fire which led to large-scale battery recalls, it is the turn of mobile phones now. The world’s largest handset manufacturer Nokia on Tuesday said up to 46 million BL-5C batteries used in a range of its handsets from the 1100 to the latest E60 are at risk of overheating during charging. It has offered to replace all these 46 million suspect batteries for free. The company does not have any estimates as to how many of these 46 million handsets which contain these batteries could be in India.
“We are not in a position to gauge how many of these handsets are in India, but whatever be the number it is important to us that we replace it. The problem occurs only while charging where the battery heats up, causing it to expand and come out from the phone cover.” Nokia India’s marketing head Devinder Kishore told ET.
“There have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported,” Nokia said in a statement. “None of these 100 cases are from India,” said Mr Kishore.
The company also added that of the 300 million BL-5C batteries manufactured by several suppliers, only about 46 million produced by Japan’s Matsushita Battery Industrial Co between December 2005 and November 2006 are suspected to have this problem.
“It is important to note that the BL-5C battery is not used in all Nokia products and that only a portion of the Nokia BL-5C batteries in use are subject to this advisory,” the company added.
Nokia promises to courier replacement battery
But how will a customer detect whether his is the affected battery? If on the reverse of the battery, “Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed, the customer should check the 26-character serial number on the back of his battery and cross-check it with the identification numbers on its website www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement.
Customers can also contact their nearest local Nokia call centre for assistance. “Customers can do the entire process online and need not leave their houses - we will courier the replacement and collect the suspect battery. Since internet penetration in the country is low, we have also set a helpline number - 30303838 - where a customer can cross-check the serial number on his battery,” Mr Kishore added.
“We are not in a position to gauge how many of these handsets are in India, but whatever be the number it is important to us that we replace it. The problem occurs only while charging where the battery heats up, causing it to expand and come out from the phone cover.” Nokia India’s marketing head Devinder Kishore told ET.
“There have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported,” Nokia said in a statement. “None of these 100 cases are from India,” said Mr Kishore.
The company also added that of the 300 million BL-5C batteries manufactured by several suppliers, only about 46 million produced by Japan’s Matsushita Battery Industrial Co between December 2005 and November 2006 are suspected to have this problem.
“It is important to note that the BL-5C battery is not used in all Nokia products and that only a portion of the Nokia BL-5C batteries in use are subject to this advisory,” the company added.
Nokia promises to courier replacement battery
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But how will a customer detect whether his is the affected battery? If on the reverse of the battery, “Nokia” and “BL-5C” are printed, the customer should check the 26-character serial number on the back of his battery and cross-check it with the identification numbers on its website www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement.
Customers can also contact their nearest local Nokia call centre for assistance. “Customers can do the entire process online and need not leave their houses - we will courier the replacement and collect the suspect battery. Since internet penetration in the country is low, we have also set a helpline number - 30303838 - where a customer can cross-check the serial number on his battery,” Mr Kishore added.
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