SANYO Electric Announces Statement Regarding Battery Pack Recall By Lenovo
506615
SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO)(TOKYO:6764)(NASDAQ:SANYY) is the world's  largest producer of rechargeable batteries, and is a battery pack  supplier to Lenovo for its notebook PCs. Lenovo, in conjunction with the  U.S.
108208
(InfoWorld) - NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi Electric are planning to replace around 1.3 million batteries manufactured by Sanyo Electric because they may overheat and catch fire, the companies said Thursday. The batteries were manufactured before June of this year and are used in NTT DoCoMo's D902i handset. Some may have also been used in two other models of Mitsubishi Electric phone, the D902iS and D903iS, the companies said. The batteries carry the model number "D06." "In rare cases there is a slight deformation of the electrode plate which causes it to come into contact with the insulation sheet and hence the insulation sheet can become damaged," said Richard Sedgwick, a spokesman for Sanyo in Tokyo. "If the battery was also damaged through an outside side, for example if the user dropped the battery, then the problem could occur." NTT DoCoMo said it has confirmed one case of the battery rupturing because of the problem and knows of 17 other cases where the D06 battery has ruptured or overheated. The carrier said the battery had been subject to an "extremely strong impact" in a number of the cases. Sanyo said it began examining ways of strengthening the electrode in April this year as a precautionary measure against possible problems, but at the time had not heard any reports about actual problems. Batteries with stronger plating on the electrode began rolling off the company's production line in June, hence Thursday's advisory only concerns batteries manufactured until May. The problem brings back memories ofÂ Sony's battery problemsÂ of earlier this year. Around 9.6 million Sony-manufactured laptop computer batteries were recalled or voluntarily replaced by many laptop PC vendors after batteries in several PCs overheated and caught fire. The problem was traced back to metal particles that had gotten into the battery during manufacturing. Sony estimated the problems will cost it around Â¥51 billion ($444 million) this financial year. Sanyo said that it has yet to work out with NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi Electric the part it will play in the replacement. Sanyo and Sony are two of the world's largest manufacturers of Lithium Ion batteries. Â ADVERTISEMENTNEW IT SERVICES FROM IBM: EASIER TO BUY AND IMPLEMENTDiscover a simpler, more cost-effective way to get the solutions your company needs to grow more flexible and efficient.
709440
IBM Corp. is recalling 526,000 laptop batteries worldwide made by Sony Corp., the latest in a series of problems with Sony batteries, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.
281584
Hitachi recalls 16,000 Sony battery packs in Japan, the latest firm to act over safety worries about the products.
87556
NTT DoCoMo and Mitsubishi say that Sanyo-made batteries may overheat and catch fire.
621011
The Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Friday that it is recalling 830,000 batteries made by Sony for its laptop computers while personal computer maker Dell Inc. expanded its recall of Sony battery packs by 100,000. The batteries can short-circuit and have been blamed for causing some computers to catch fire.
113665
Osaka-based electronics maker Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it will spend 30 billion yen ($245 million) to boost output of lithium-ion batteries for laptop computers.
602437
(InfoWorld) - Eight months after recalling potentially flammable notebook PC batteries, Toshiba is again urging its customers to trade in the defective units, saying one of its notebooks caught fire on May 24. Toshiba was one of many PC vendors that recalled more than 8 million rechargeable lithium-ion batteries made by Sony. A manufacturing defect left those batteries vulnerable to short-circuiting and catching fire if they were jostled, prompting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue a broad recall. Dell was the first to recall those batteriesÂ in August 2006 and was quickly followed by Apple, Lenovo, Fujitsu, Gateway, and Sony. By October 2006, that defect had led to 16 reports of notebook computer batteries overheating, causing minor property damage and two minor burns, according to the Commission. On Tuesday, Toshiba said the latest fire was sparked by a battery that was never returned. "Recently, certain instances occurred where Sony battery packs installed in Toshiba portable computers caught fire," Toshiba said in a statement on its Web site. After an investigation with Sony, Toshiba found that the battery caused "the situation," the statement said. "The original Sony Battery Pack had not been replaced as recommended by Sony and Toshiba. We put importance on the fact that the incidents that occurred involved unreplaced Sony Battery Packs, despite our ongoing replacement program." In the original recall, the Commission warned laptop users to remove the batteries immediately and to power their PCs only by plugging them into a wall outlet until receiving a free replacement battery from the PC manufacturer. Laptop users were responsible for taking the initiative to return their own batteries, leading some analysts to predict that only a small percentage would do so. Other PC vendors may face the same challenge, although the Commission does not list any other fires. Dell is continuing to replace the faulty batteries, but a spokesman said he could not produce figures for the number of batteries replaced or whether the company had noted any overheating incidents since the recall began. "The recall's going well. Customers are taking heed to send back the affected batteries and have replacements sent to them," said Dell spokesman Bob Kaufman. In response to the latest fire, Toshiba warned customers to stop using the affected batteries immediately. Users who continue running their laptops on battery power should not leave their PCs unattended while they charge and should not place PCs on a sofa, bed or other surface that could obstruct its ventilation, Toshiba said. Toshiba has not changed the list of laptops that use the affected batteries. They include various models of the company's Portege, Qosmio, Satellite, and Tecra brand PCs. As with the original recall, Toshiba will replace all affected batteries for free.
426129
Hitachi Ltd. (6501.T) said on Friday it  will recall 16,000 batteries made by Sony Corp. (6758.T) for  laptop computers, joining a growing list of PC makers recalling  Sony batteries.
632497
Company says 4.1 million batteries--affecting nearly all Dell notebook lines--are on the recall list.
636608
Japan's largest mobile-phone provider said Thursday it is recalling 1.3 million battery packs because some of them could generate excessive heat and rupture.
190309
Lenovo says it has found yet another problem with some of its batteries and has recalled more than 200,000 of them worldwide.
525827
Japanese electronics company Sanyo and computer vendor Lenovo are discussing how to pay for the recall of over 200,000 laptop PC batteries.
177496
Sanyo shares fell sharply after two customers said they would recall 1.3 million handset batteries that could overheat.
632204
Hitachi Ltd.  said on Friday it  will recall 16,000 batteries made by Sony Corp.  for  laptop computers, joining a growing list of PC makers recalling  Sony batteries.
653979
by STEVE HARTSOE  RALEIGH, N.C. - Lenovo Inc. recalled about 205,000 laptop computer batteries worldwide Thursday, warning that they could overheat and cause a fire.  The battery recall was the second for the company in the past six months and comes as Lenovo, the world's No.
407095
Computer-maker Lenovo announces the recall of more than 500,000 laptop computer batteries made by Sony.