Cell Phone Battery Danger Warning

Nokia Corp. warned Tuesday that up to 46 million batteries used in some of its cell phones could pose a serious risk of overheating. The batteries subject to the warning were manufactured by Matsushita from December 2005 to November 2006. Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. of Japan is one of several suppliers that have together made some 300 million BL-5C batteries.
Nokia is the world’s largest mobile phone maker. The lithium-ion battery is one of 14 different types of battery used in Nokia phones.
Nokia reported 100 incidents of overheating of the Matsushita-made BL-5C batteries. “Consumers with a BL-5C battery subject to this advisory should note that all of the approximately 100 incidents have occurred while charging the battery,” the Finnish company said. “According to Nokia’s knowledge this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device.”
Nokia did not recall the batteries, but will offer a replacement for any BL-5C battery affected by the advisory at the consumer’s request.
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.