DailyTech - All Sony Notebook Batteries Now Under Investigation

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IT All Sony Notebook Batteries Now Under Investigation
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - August 17, 2006 5:31 AM

29 comment(s) - last by crystal clear.. on Aug 18 at 3:18 AM

Safety concerns loom over Sony batteries by HP says "it's just a Dell issue"

Sony could very well be forced to announce a major recall on a large number of or all of the batteries that it manufactures. From laptops to hand held devices, Sony's batteries are now under heavy investigation by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission citing safety concerns. The investigation started after Dell's recent 4.1 million battery recall. The Commission however says that hazardous situations are not limited to just Dell laptops -- Sony batteries are used in other computers by Apple, HP and Lenovo. HP responded by saying that "it's a Dell issue" and that it's not affected by the investigation.

Dell's recall of 4.1 million batteries however is an indication that the situation is more severe than at first appears. Earlier this month Apple issued a recall for certain batteries that shipped with its MacBook Pro notebook computer. Apple said that the batteries did not perform up to expectations but otherwise did not pose serious threat to users.

Analysts say that Dell's recall of 4.1 million batteries could cost up to $300 million depending on how many users actually send in their batteries. Lenovo told reporters that it was not recalling any batteries yet and Apple said it would look into the situation. Out of all the manufacturers using batteries from Sony, only Dell has issued a recall. Interestingly, a Sony representative told reporters that Sony believes the problem to be isolated to just Dell.

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