Nokia to replace 46 million phone batteries

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Mobile phone giant Nokia has offered to replace around 46 million of its most popular mobile phone batteries, following a spate of reports that a large batch may malfunction and overheat.

The move, which Nokia is insisting is not a recall, applies to Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita, between December 2005 and November 2006.

The BL-5C is used in many of the company's most recent phones, including the popular business handsets the 6230, 6230i, N71 and N72. There are around 300 million of Nokia's branded batteries in handsets around the world. Just under a sixth of those are affected by the recall.

"Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries subject to the product advisory could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge," the company claims in a statement.

Nokia says there have been around 100 reported incidents with the BL-5C, so why has it taken so long for the company to go public? "You have to charge the battery 200-300 times before this problem will occur," a Nokia spokesperson told IT PRO. "It takes quite a while before you see a pattern emerging." However, Nokia insists that "no serious injuries or property damage have been reported".

The Nokia spokesman wouldn't say how long customers who send back batteries will have to wait for a replacement, claiming "we will be doing the best we can."

A full list of affected handsets and details on how to check whether your battery is affected can be found on the Nokia website.

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