Matsushita forms task force for battery recalls

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. last week said it has set up a task force to handle large-scale free-of-charge replacements of defective mobile phone batteries that a Matsushita unit made for Nokia, according to JCN Network.

The task force, with a staff of some 100, will be headed by Takami Sano, VP of Matsushita Electric Industrial.

The move came after Nokia, the world's biggest mobile phone maker, revealed a plan to replace 46 million Li-ion handset batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. because of overheating risks.

Matsushita last established a task force to address problem product issues in 2005, following a string of carbon monoxide poisonings caused by its kerosene fan heaters.