“Dell is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames, the company said today. This will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said… the lithium-ion batteries were made by Sony and were installed in notebooks sold between April 2004 and July 18 of this year,” Damon Darlin reports for The New York Times.
“Dell said the problems were a result of a manufacturing defect in batteries made by Sony,” Darlin reports. “The safety agency said the batteries were not unique to Dell, meaning that other companies using Sony batteries may also have to issue recalls. Sony has sold its batteries to all the major computer makers, including Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Lenovo and Apple.”
“The recalled batteries were used in 2.7 million computers sold in the United States and 1.4 million sold overseas. The total is about 18 percent of Dell’s notebook production during the period in question,” Darlin reports. “Depending on how many are still in use, the cost of the recall could exceed $300 million. Dell refused to estimate the cost, but said the recall would not materially affect its profits. Sony, which affirmed that its batteries were responsible, said it was ‘financially supporting’ Dell in the recall.”
Darlin reports, “The current recall also leaves many questioned unanswered on how Dell, as well as the product safety commission, deals with information about fire-damaged notebooks. Although Dell told the agency that only six incidents had occurred, a reporter viewed almost 100 photos of melted notebooks that were returned to the company between 2002 and 2004. The photos, from a Dell database, were supplied by a former Dell technician, Robert Day, who said such damage ‘was more of a common thing than they are letting on.’ As many as several hundred a year were returned. Mr. Day said, ‘I did see so many pallets of stuff coming in that they had to use my lab for overflow storage.'”
“An Apple spokeswoman, Lynn Fox, said today, ‘We are currently investigating whether batteries that have been supplied to Apple for our current and previous notebook lines meet our high standards for battery safety and performance,'” Darlin reports. “The new Dell batteries, which the company hopes to distribute over the next four weeks, will be made by Sony and other vendors. Dell said it was confident that Sony had solved the problem by changing part of its manufacturing methods.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Woof-X” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Ouch. 4.1 million is a lot of anything. As we stated in response to the Dell laptop fire in Japan: “Almost always, this is an issue of shoddily-produced batteries. Virtually every PC company, including Apple, have not been immune to such issues in the past. Hopefully, this will never happen on a plane (or anywhere else again). Generally, we’re of the opinion that as PC companies race to the bottom in a desperate price race, we feel much safer with Apple’s quality vs. all others as Apple is not dependent on operating on razor-thin margins that might affect product quality.”
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Another Dell laptop goes up in flames – July 28, 2006
Dell laptop fires may have been downplayed – July 22, 2006
Dell warns of earnings miss; shares plunge 15% – July 21, 2006
NY Times: Dell’s exploding laptop and other image problems – July 10, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Dell laptop explodes into flames at Japanese conference – June 21, 2006
Time Magazine on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook: ‘Dell and HP should be very worried’ – June 07, 2006
Heard at Heathrow, “Please step off the plane sir, your battery is a Sony.”
Ouch
Dell laptops bursting into flames…. that a feature set i’d like to have on my MacBook…
NOT!!
…first?
NOT[i/] first…
shoulda known. my Magic Word was “late”.
Fair or not, this should have a nice impact on the back to school laptop season. Go apple.
did I miss something or did Dell sell 4.1 million laptops in 3 months? DAYUM..that’s alot of PC’s…
that’s gonna leave a mark
That’ll whack their bottom—–line.
—“That’ll whack their bottom—–line.”—–
Umm, Did you even bother reading the article? Sony supplied the batteries to Dell and Sony officially said it is “financially supporting” Dell in the recall..
Sony also supplied batteries to Apple which may be defective.
And to think the 2008 Toyota Prius is slated to use lithium-ion batteries.
WTF is Toyota trying to do? Repeat the Ford Pinto?!?!
FWIW the Wall Street Journal (8/14/06) has a front-page story on detonating batteries. Good reading for anyone with access to it.
GET YOUR T-SHIRTS RIGHT HERE FOLKS!
MICROSOFT + DELL =
VIRUSES + EXPLOSIONS
STEP RIGHT UP, ONLY $10
Umm, Did you even bother reading the article? Sony supplied the batteries to Dell and Sony officially said it is “financially supporting” Dell in the recall..
Maybe things are OK financially, but Dell will still be taking a big dent in the public-image department. And when you’re a barebones bottom feeder, there isn’t much margin for hard hits.
Just read that Apple also used the same batteries as Dell so I would expect Apple to do another similar recall.
Dell’s recall is on a much larger scale simply because they sell a billion more computers than Apple.
Just saw a news item on NBC news and they also stated that HP and Apple use the same batteries. I guess Dell’s image won’t be the only one taking a beating.
gman writes: “did I miss something or did Dell sell 4.1 million laptops in 3 months? DAYUM..that’s alot of PC’s…”
Yes, you missed this: “the lithium-ion batteries were made by Sony and were installed in notebooks sold between April 2004 and July 18 of this year”
More like 27 to 28 months.
The staggering thing is that this problem was known to exist by Dell for many years before anyting was done bout it. They didn’t even swap out the batteries in their production line. Unfortunately for them, they’ve been caught out in the media, fanning the flames of this issue, so they’ve had to rethink before they got burned.
Puns intended. Sorry.
Microsoft needs to recall its Windows operating system.
Apple thrashes Dell on Mac Pro pricing
http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33576
Stomping nutz
I’m back!
Said it before, say it again, DELL SUCKS!
ps DELL SUCKS BIG TIME!
Sony may have built the batteries, but who spec’d out the design/costing of them? Isn’t it possible that they built them to a supplied spec that ws deficient?
“Just read that Apple also used the same batteries as Dell so I would expect Apple to do another similar recall.
Apple has already done a world-wide recall on *some* of their batteries:
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/10357/
Forgot to say – anyone running an Intel based Mac can now get the native Intel Flash Player from Adobe here (V 9,0,20,0):
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW
Since this thread is pretty much dead, I’ll post a little amusing O/T:
Check out the new Coca-Cola ad with the Grand Theft Auto theme here:
Pretty clever…….
“anyone running an Intel based Mac can now get the native Intel Flash Player from Adobe”
How wrong that sentence would have sounded just a few short years ago.
So Trevor, you believe that recalls cause no harm….Right!
The staggering thing is that this problem was known to exist by (the manufacturer) for many years before anyting was done bout it. They didn’t even swap out the (defective components) in their production line. Unfortunately for them, they’ve been caught out in the media, fanning the flames of this issue, so they’ve had to rethink before they got burned.
Classic penny-scraper coverup.
Dell, you might want to refer to a few choice automakers for tips on dealing with a crisis like this.