Nokia has issued a warning to customers to avoid buying batteries made by other companies. The alert follows a couple of handful of cases of overheating "non-original batteries" in Europe and Asia which have caused damage to both batteries and phone.
Nokia says it is unaware of the scale of the problem - the relatively few examples uncovered to date could indicate a much bigger issue. Also it is not sure where the dud batteries come from - probably from the Far East, but from one source or more?
According to Pekka Isosomppi, communications manager Nokia mobile, the price differential between Nokia batteries and non-originals is too small for customers to risk buying the latter. Safety measures have been left out in the rogue non-originals to reduce the price, he says.
As you might expect, use of the non-Nokia battery, invalidates the warranty should your phone melt. However, considering the size of Nokia - 300m users and all, perhaps it could consider tolerating an after-market for third-party batteries. Why not a seal of approval scheme? ®