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Notebook battery recall

16 October 2006

© RangaShyam

For Sony, it turned out to be the summer of discontent. If there was one news item that kept appearing in all sorts of media (news, that is, other than made by Google) it has been the recall of laptop batteries made by Sony for various laptop manufacturers. I reproduce a news item from ZDNet dt. Sep-27-2006:

 

Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu said on Wednesday that it would recall 287,000 notebook PC batteries made by Sony, bringing the number of Sony batteries recalled to more than 7.5 million.

Fujitsu last week joined a growing list of computer makers recalling Sony batteries but did not say at the time how many batteries would be affected.

Besides Fujitsu, Dell, Apple Computer, Lenovo, IBM and Toshiba have recalled the laptop PC batteries, which Sony has said can short-circuit on rare occasions, overheat and catch fire.

Following the recall announcements in August by Dell and Apple of a total 5.9 million batteries, Sony said the two recalls would cost it between 20 billion yen and 30 billion yen, or $170 million to $254 million. The company is also planning its own recall, which would include previously announced ones, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

But a Sony spokesman said after the Fujitsu announcement that total recall costs for Sony are now likely to exceed the previous estimate. The company will make an announcement as soon as its latest estimate and impact on the company's earnings become clear, he said.

Prior to the Fujitsu announcement, shares of Sony ended down 3.3 percent at a nine month closing low of 4,450 yen ($37.68). The Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index was down 1.27 percent.

Compounding the blow to Sony's reputation as a top-class manufacturer is a delay in the launch in Europe of its long-awaited new video game console, the PlayStation 3.

Sony said last month that it would postpone the launch of the latest version of its blockbuster game machine in Europe and some other regions to March from November due to a production glitch, missing the critical Christmas shopping season.

On Tuesday, the maker of Bravia flat TVs, Vaio personal computers and Cyber-shot digital cameras said it would start rolling out its Blu-ray high-definition optical-disc recorders in Japan in December. That is about a month behind rival Matsushita Electric Industrial launch of similar equipment.

In addition, Sony's models, unlike Matsushita's, will lack a function enabling users to record on dual-layer discs, further stoking concerns over Sony's technological competitiveness.

 

 

I guess one question nobody is asking is who makes batteries for Sony's laptops? I never heard of Sony recalling their own Vaio line of notebook batteries. Do they outsource the batteries for Vaio to somebody more reliable than...well Sony!!?? It just spawns more questions - Sony's laptops sell at a premium, possibly $300-$500 more than any other comparable brand with the exception of probably the Mac and Lenovo notebooks. Agreed that the battery is only one of the bizillion components that go into making a notebook, but if Sony is indeed outsourcing the batteries for its own laptops and makes inferior or cheaper batteries for other vendors, then maybe one of the following should happen:

 

1. The manufacturers who purchase Sony's batteries will stop doing it after this recall and switch to other manufacturer(s). If this translates into a cost increase of these laptops, we will probably see parity in the market for notebook pricing vis-a-vis Sony and non-Sony notebooks.

2. Sony should explain why none of their notebook batteries are facing a recall. I narrowly missed getting one of these lemons (I bought a Dell notebook in September 2006), but if I did have a battery that was being recalled, I would be more frustrated with brand Dell than with brand Sony. After all, I paid my $ to Dell. It seems unfair to hold Dell accountable, but I guess that is just the way anybody who has to deal with the cumbersome process of sending the faulty battery back and wait for a replacement would feel. I don't support conspiracy theories, but it sure would seem like a conflict of interest or unfair advantage to Sony over their battery and notebook production businesses.

 

Let's see how this news item plays itself out in the next few months.

 

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©RangaShyam, 2006

 

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