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Japan’s Matsushita to pay for Nokia batteries (Japan)

  • August 27th, 2007
  • 1:31 pm

A Japanese supplier will meet all costs stemming from a warning this month about faulty batteries issued by handset leader Nokia, an Associated Press report, quoting Nokia, said.

The Associated Press report said Nokia advised customers August 14 that up to 46 million batteries used in some of its handsets could pose a risk of overheating.

The advisory applied to Nokia BL-5C batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial between December 2005 and November 2006, the report said.

Matsushita estimated that replacing the batteries would cost 10 billion yen ($85 million) to 20 billion yen ($170 million), it added.

Nokia said 100 incidents of overheating in the Matsushita-made batteries had been reported worldwide, but there has been no serious injuries or damage. All cases of overheating occurred while the phones were being charged, Nokia said.

Nokia did not issue a recall of the batteries, but said it would replace any battery covered by the advisory, the report said.

   
 

Nokia, Matsushita reach agreement over battery costs (Finland)

  • August 27th, 2007
  • 12:57 pm

Nokia has reached agreement with Matsushita Battery Industrial for the latter to cover the direct costs related to the product advisory issued on 14 August on Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries. Matsushita Battery president Masatsugu Kondo said the two companies had a long business relationship and that his company has agreed to cover the direct costs associated with the product advisory, including logistics costs, call centre costs and replacement battery costs. Any Nokia consumer who is currently using a Nokia product containing a BL-5C battery subject to the product advisory can request a replacement battery free of charge.

   

Matsushita Stock Hit by Nokia Battery Recall (Japan)

  • August 23rd, 2007
  • 7:15 am

Matsushita Electric shares fell to a two-year low after Nokia offered to replace as many as 46 million handset batteries produced by the company on concerns they may overheat. Matsushita, the world’s largest consumer-electronics maker - more widely known as Panasonic - saw it’s shares drop 5 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to 2,015 yen which is the lowest closing price since October 2005.

According to this article on Bloomberg, Yasuo Nakane, a Tokyo-based analyst at Deutsche Securities, estimated the cost to replace the faulty batteries will be as much as 40 billion yen ($341 million).

Of the 46 million batteries potentially affected, about 160,000 were sold in Japan, according to a joint statement by Matsushita, Nokia Japan and carriers NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Softbank Corp., which offer Nokia handsets.

Softbank, which has three Nokia models, said 135,916 batteries will be affected by the recall, according to Naoki Nakayama, a spokesman. About 33,000 batteries used in DoCoMo’s sole Nokia handset model will be affected, said Makiko Furuta, a spokeswoman for Tokyo-based DoCoMo.

   

 

Nokia warns for over-heating batteries (Finland)

  • August 16th, 2007
  • 7:07 am

Nokia has issued a product advisory for the Nokia-branded BL-5C battery manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Company of Japan. The advisory applies to some 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 from which there have been approximately 100 incidents of overheating reported globally. The BL-5C batteries subject to the product advisory could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge. Nokia and Matsushita are offering to replace any BL-5C battery subject to the product advisory.