Nokia Recall Worth 172m

Nokia's unprecedented 46 million battery recall could be very costly for its supplier Matsushita, the cellphone maker revealed today. Though initially at odds with each other over responsibility and the ultimate cost, both firms have agreed that Matsushita (responsible for the Panasonic label) will shoulder most of the costs of replacing the flammable batteries and is estimated to pay a minimum of $86 million and as much as $172 million depending on the number of batteries replaced as part of the program. The figure is high but is far lower than what local experts had anticipated, as some predicted Matsushita could be responsible for as much as $432 million and seriously damage the company's overall health.

Nokia's recall is the largest of its kind known to date and affects a large portion of the Finnish company's mainstream phones, including the entry-level Nokia 1100, that were made between December 2005 and November 2006. The BL-5C is Nokia's most common battery type and has been in use for several years, suggesting that the device itself is not systematically flawed. A few of the handset maker's premium E-series and N-series phones were also affected, however, such as the N70 and N91.

By Electronista Staff