“Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. said Wednesday it is recalling 287,000 laptop batteries manufactured by Sony Corp., the latest in a massive global recall of the batteries that can overheat and catch fire,” CBC News reports.
“Affected are 224,000 laptops sold overseas across 10 models, including the popular Lifebook series, according to Fujitsu spokesman Masao Sakamoto. The remaining 63,000 were sold across 17 models in Japan,” CBC News reports.
“Almost every major laptop maker has told customers to return Sony-made lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat and catch fire,” CBC News reports. “The largest recalls have been issued by Dell Inc., with 4.2 million batteries affected, and Apple Computer Inc., with 1.8 million batteries. Sony expects costs of at least $170 million US related to the Dell and Apple recalls.”
Full article here.
“Analysts estimate Sony is facing recall-related expenses of about $500 million. That’s almost half the company’s projected net profit for the 12 months ending March 31, 2007,” United Press International reports.
Full article here.
Related articles:
Toshiba to recall 830,000 more defective Sony-made laptop batteries – September 29, 2006
Lenovo recalls 526,000 Sony laptop batteries; Sony to initiate global battery replacement program – September 28, 2006
Virgin Atlantic lifts total ban on in-flight use of Apple, Dell notebook batteries – September 25, 2006
Virgin Atlantic bans use of all Apple, Dell notebook batteries in-flight – September 18, 2006
Korean Air bans use of Apple PowerBooks, iBooks, and all Dell laptop models during flight – September 05, 2006
Dell Japan President blames Sony for recall of fire hazardous batteries – August 29, 2006
Sony-made battery fire in discontinued Apple notebook computer reported in Japan – August 29, 2006
Apple to recall 1.8 million Sony-made iBook G4, PowerBook G4 batteries – August 24, 2006
Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others working on battery standard – August 23, 2006
Qantas first airline to restrict in-flight Dell laptop use due to fire-prone batteries – August 23, 2006
Dell and Sony knew about battery problems nearly a year ago, waited for catastrophic failures – August 21, 2006
Dell issues largest safety recall in history: 4.1 million laptop batteries due to fire threat – August 14, 2006
Another Dell laptop goes up in flames – July 28, 2006
Dell laptop fires may have been downplayed – July 22, 2006
NY Times: Dell’s exploding laptop and other image problems – July 10, 2006
Dell laptop explodes into flames at Japanese conference – June 21, 2006
You reap what you sow!
Obviously not good for Sony’s image (or financial health).
“Obviously not good for Sony’s image (or financial health).”
You think?
Sony’s batteries are not the only things heating up.
I was watching CNBC this morning and heard reports on the Playstation 3 having overheating problems.
Not looking good for Sony.
Distributing hundreds of millions of potential incendiary devices is pretty close to global terrorism.
I just notic ed something that may relate to Apple’s laptop marketshare. The number of Mac laptops affected is 43% of the number of Dell laptops affected. Could this be the ratio of Apple laptops to Dell laptops? If so, Apple isn’t all that far behind Dell in the sales of laptops.
*** JOKE ONLY ***
DHS has increased the Threat Advisory to High (Orange) on increasing reports of defective Sony batteries. These batteries could be used as portable IEDs and could pose a significant ad increasing danger to individuals and businesses.
There’s gotta be a lot of nervous folks at Sony HQ. Everything is riding on the PS3. If there are any serious problems with the launch, or if sales are lackluster, we could be looking at a collapse of Sony’s stock.
My Apple laptop replacement battery still isn’t in.
Is anyone still waiting on theirs?
Seems like everybody gets batteries from Sony. What’s up with that?