Sony Batteries Back in the Hot Seat

By Colleen Taylor -- Electronic News, 9/29/2006

Yet another laptop recall has been issued due to malfunctions associated with Sony Corp.'s batteries. IBM Corp. and Lenovo Inc. are recalling more than half a million rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs used in ThinkPad notebook computers sold worldwide.

The lithium-ion batteries can cause overheating, posing a fire hazard to customers. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which issued the recall along with the companies, said that about 168,500 battery packs were sold in the United States and an additional 357,000 battery packs were sold worldwide.

Lenovo, a China-based PC maker that bought IBM’s PC line in December 2004, said it has received one confirmed report of a battery overheating and causing a fire that damaged the notebook computer. The incident, which occurred within an airport terminal as the user was boarding an airplane, caused enough smoking and sparking that a fire extinguisher was used to put it out. There was minor property damage and no injuries were reported.

The recalled lithium-ion battery packs were sold either separately as accessories or with ThinkPad notebook computers designated T Series (T43, T43p, T60); R Series (R51e, R52, R60, R60e); and X Series (X60, X60s). The recalled batteries cover 12 part numbers with prefix designations 92P or 93P.

The Commission recommends that consumers stop using the recalled batteries immediately and contact Lenovo to receive a free replacement battery.

The ThinkPad recall comes on the heels of massive recalls last month from Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc., both caused by similar overheating problems with Sony's batteries.

And those recalls aren't totally in the past: Dell announced today that additional information was received regarding affected battery packs containing cells manufactured by Sony, which has led to an increase in the number of recalled batteries from 4.1 million units to approximately 4.2 million units. The company is requesting that customers recheck their batteries if they have not ordered or received a replacement battery.

In response to the recent recalls, Sony announced today its support of the Dell and Apple recalls and revealed plans to initiate a global replacement program for its affected battery packs. The company said it is discussing the plan with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and that more details will be forthcoming.