Print

Mail

wiki links

Toshiba latest to launch Sony laptop battery recall

Toshiba Corp is recalling as many as 340,000 faulty laptop batteries made by Sony Corp because some of them fail to charge or supply electricity, marking the latest setback for Sony.

The rechargable batteries, used in Toshiba's Dynabook series laptops, pose no safety hazard, company spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said yesterday. Toshiba will replace problematic cells for free. Ohmori said he didn't have details of the replacement costs.

Yesterday's recall affects 100,000 laptop batteries in the US, 45,000 in Japan, and the rest in other parts of the world, he said.

The problems are found in some of the battery packs for Dynabook and Satellite laptop models made by Toshiba from March through May this year, and they will be replaced for free, he said.

For Sony, the world's second-largest maker of rechargable batteries after Sanyo Electric Co, this is the third major recall of its batteries in a month.

Dell and Apple Computer last month recalled 6 million lithium-ion batteries that were made by Sony Energy Devices Corp, a Sony subsidiary in Japan, because they may overheat and burst into flames.

"The problem is caused by insulating paper and there's absolutely no possibility of overheating" in the batteries used in the Toshiba laptops, Sony spokesman Takashi Uehara said, adding that Sony is checking whether similar problems may occur in cells supplied to other PC makers.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry last month ordered computer and rechargable battery makers to investigate their products.

Shares in Sony ended at ?4,930 (US$42), down 0.80 percent but Toshiba's shares increased 0.51 percent to ?796.
This story has been viewed 4195 times.