Sony says battery burn-out probe should have been quicker

Sony says battery burn-out probe should have been quicker

Had trouble meeting demand for high-capacity,Sony laptop battery,power packs

Sony has admitted it could have moved "more quickly" to tackle the burning battery bug that hit two of the company's biggest power-pack customers, Dell and Apple, and prompted many others to recall Sony-made lithium-ion batteries.

In an interview with Japanese-language newspaper the Mainchi Shimbun, relayed by Agence France-Presse, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi is quoted as saying: "The company should have investigated the cause of the battery problem more quickly."

Chubachi also hinted that the battery issue may have arisen from Sony's rush to deliver higher-capacity notebook power packs. "We had troubles as we tried to meet the demands for larger battery capacity," he confessed, the paper said.

PCGA-BP4V, PCGA-BP71, VGP-BPL2, VGP-BPS3, VGP-BPS5,

In October, Sony set aside ¥51.2bn ($444m/£224m/€334m) to cover a worldwide recall of almost 10m lithium-ion notebook batteries.PCGA-BP71, Following a spate of exploding laptop incidents, Dell announced its own battery recall this summer, and was quickly followed by Apple and Lenovo.

They pointed the finger at Sony-made batteries as the cause of the combustion, and in September Sony's battery division said it would support these and other laptop vendors who chose to instigate recalls. Gateway, Fujitsu, Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba and Sony's own Vaio division subsequently asked some of their customers to return Sony-made batteries.

Gateway opens up to Sony battery recall plan

Asks for 35,000 units to be returned

Gateway has become the latest notebook computer supplier to recall Sony-made laptop batteries. It has asked for some 35,000 lithium-ion power packs to be returned. The batteries could, under "very rare circumstances" overheat and catch fire, Gateway said, VGP-BPL2,though it claimed it has not heard of any instances of this happening with its machines.

Gateway laptops covered by the recall began shipping in September 2005 or later. The model numbers are the CX200, CX210, E100M, M250, M255, M280, M285, M465, M685, MP8708, NX260, NX510, NX560, NX860, NX100, MX1025, MX6918b and MX1020j. Full details can be found on the company's website.

Gateway's announcement was accompanied by a a US Consumer Product ,PCGA-BP4V, PCGA-BP71, VGP-BPL2, VGP-BPS3, VGP-BPS5,Safety Commission (CPSC) statement adding that batteries from Fujitsu, Sony and Toshiba are also being recalled, putting the formal stamp on battery recalls already announced by these companies in the States and overseas.

The US recall amounts to some 340,000 units, but all four firms' actions should see the return of around 3.42m battery packs worldwide,VGP-BPS3, the CPSC said

Sony begins Vaio battery recall

Toshiba ponders compensation-seeking lawsuit

Sony has announced details of the Vaio laptop battery recall it admitted last month it was going to initiate. And Toshiba has indicated it may sue the Japanese giant in order to gain recompense for any damage it alleges may have been done to its brand by its own battery recall.

Sony's Vaio division announced on 29 September it was planning to recall batteries fitted into some of its notebook computers. At the time, it said it was pondering whether it would participate in the broader battery recall programme put in place independently by Sony's battery manufacturing operation.

Sony Japan today asked anyone who owns a VGP-BPS2B or VGP-BPS3A,VGP-BPS5, battery pack to return the unit to the company. Some have been sold on their own, others were bundled with a variety of Vaio notebooks. The recall only applies to certain battery-pack serial numbers, Sony said.

PCGA-BP4V, PCGA-BP71, VGP-BPL2, VGP-BPS3, VGP-BPS5,

Sony Japan said it expects to replace around 90,000 batteries in the Asia Pacific region. Other Sony subsidiaries have yet to announce recalls of their own, but Japanese newspaper the Nihon Keizai Shimbun today put the total at 300,000 Vaio batteries worldwide.

The claim comes a day after Toshiba said it may take Sony to court to seek compensation for the lost business and damage to its brand it alleges it has sustained since it issued an 830,000-unit recall last month