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Lenovo looking into reports that a laptop computer burst into flames

Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), the world's third-largest computer manufacturer, yesterday said it is investigating a report saying a Lenovo laptop burst into flames in a US airport.

"Our US team is now investigating the case. We have yet to confirm the accuracy of the report," Bruce Shen (沈汝康), communications officer with Lenovo Taiwan, told the Taipei Times.

Shen's remark came after Cnet.com quoted a poster on the Web site "Something Awful" on Monday that described a frightening scene at Los Angeles International Airport, in which a passenger ran out of a plane with a smoking laptop just after boarding on the weekend.

The laptop's owner identified it as a ThinkPad laptop made by Lenovo.

The computer caught fire in the waiting lounge before it was extinguished by airport workers. The exact cause was not certain, but pictures posted on Something Awful appeared to show a charred battery case, according to Cnet.com.

The incident caused speculation as to whether Lenovo would follow other computer makers to recall faulty batteries made by Sony Corp. Toshiba Corp announced a recall yesterday, while Apple Computer Inc and Dell Corp did so last month.

But Shen said Lenovo has no intention of recalling its batteries just yet.

"We do use Sony batteries for our laptops. It is one of the world's major producers, but the volumes are not big," he said.

Meanwhile, a local agent for Toshiba notebooks said that the Japanese maker's battery recall will only affect a small number of users.

It is expected that fewer than 1,000 units will have to be recalled, said Yang Tien-fu (楊天福), Grainnex Corp's (新禾科技) director for Toshiba's product business unit.

The company said users could refer to www.grainew.com.tw or visit its service centers for further assistance.

Lenovo and Toshiba are among the top-five notebook brands in Taiwan. According to an International Data Corp tally for Taiwan, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) leads the local market in notebook sales, followed by Acer Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Lenovo and Toshiba.

Also see story:
Toshiba latest to launch Sony laptop battery recall

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