Toshiba, Dell, HP Recall Sony Laptop Batteries
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that certain notebook batteries manufactured by Sony have been recalled due to a fire hazard, pushing Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Toshiba to recall 100,000 computer battery packs.
Sony said the recall is expected to have limited impact on its earnings.
The recall is a fraction of a much bigger recall of 9.6 million Sony PC batteries in 2006, which cost the company around 35.5 billion yen ($360 million).
The U.S. government issued on Thursday a recall of 35,000 Sony batteries and the Tokyo-based company said it would recall a further 65,000 batteries worldwide.
PC makers have reported 40 cases of overheating, including four cases where users suffered minor burns, and 21 cases of minor damage from fires and overheating, a Sony spokeswoman said.
The recall affects around 74,000 notebook PCs sold by HP and 14,400 from Toshiba.
The faulty batteries are also used in laptop PCs from Dell, Acer and Lenovo, Sony said.
Dell announced that some Latitude and Inspiron models shipped between November 2004 and November 2005 are also covered by the recall.
Some Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops sold from April 2005 to October 2005 are alco covered.
Details, including laptop model numbers and contact information for Dell, HP and Toshiba, have been posted on the commission's Web site.
For additional information, consumers should contact the manufacturer of their notebook computer:
Hewlett-Packard Co. - http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (800) 889-2031 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Toshiba - http://www.bxinfo.toshiba.com or call (800) 457-7777 anytime.
Dell - http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com or call toll-free (866) 342-0011 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Sony blamed the faulty batteries on factory changes dating back up to four years, which it believes may have affected the quality of some battery cells.
The company recalled last month 438,000 of its Vaio laptops due to concerns about overheating batteries.
The recall is a fraction of a much bigger recall of 9.6 million Sony PC batteries in 2006, which cost the company around 35.5 billion yen ($360 million).
The U.S. government issued on Thursday a recall of 35,000 Sony batteries and the Tokyo-based company said it would recall a further 65,000 batteries worldwide.
PC makers have reported 40 cases of overheating, including four cases where users suffered minor burns, and 21 cases of minor damage from fires and overheating, a Sony spokeswoman said.
The recall affects around 74,000 notebook PCs sold by HP and 14,400 from Toshiba.
The faulty batteries are also used in laptop PCs from Dell, Acer and Lenovo, Sony said.
Dell announced that some Latitude and Inspiron models shipped between November 2004 and November 2005 are also covered by the recall.
Some Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops sold from April 2005 to October 2005 are alco covered.
Details, including laptop model numbers and contact information for Dell, HP and Toshiba, have been posted on the commission's Web site.
For additional information, consumers should contact the manufacturer of their notebook computer:
Hewlett-Packard Co. - http://www.hp.com/support/BatteryReplacement or call (800) 889-2031 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Toshiba - http://www.bxinfo.toshiba.com or call (800) 457-7777 anytime.
Dell - http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com or call toll-free (866) 342-0011 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday.
Sony blamed the faulty batteries on factory changes dating back up to four years, which it believes may have affected the quality of some battery cells.
The company recalled last month 438,000 of its Vaio laptops due to concerns about overheating batteries.
