On Friday Lenovo Group Ltd said it was recalling half a million
batteries used in Thinkpad and Lenovo laptop computers worldwide
because they could explode.
With the announcement all top PC makers - Dell Inc, Hewlett
Packard Inc and Lenovo – are recalling the problematic lithium-ion
batteries made by Sony Corp which have been found to overheat and
in some cases they've exploded. ??
Lenovo, China's No. 1 and the world's No. 3 personal computer
manufacturer is recalling 526,000 batteries for its Thinkpads and
2,460 for Lenovo-branded laptops through cooperation with the US
Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory
agencies.
The batteries involved in the recall were installed in the
Thinkpad T, R and X models, the X60s and the Lenovo Tianyi F40 and
F40A machines. ?
The batteries were on the market from last February to this
month and approximately 5-10 percent of the total sold during that
time are being recalled, Lenovo said in a statement. "Sony provides
the financial support for the recall," they said but declined to
elaborate.
Lenevo announced the recall program after a Thinkpad T43
exploded during use in a Los Angeles airport two weeks ago.
Before that HP, the world's No. 2 PC maker, recalled 135,000
Sony batteries. Dell, the world's No. 1 PC manufacturer, recalled
4.1 million Sony batteries. This was the biggest recall in the
history of the electronics industry. Other PC vendors, including
Apple, Toshiba and Panasonic have also recalled the product.
?
Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC unit last year, held 30 percent
of the domestic laptop computer market in the second quarter with
sales totaling 900,000 units, according to CCID Consulting, a
Beijing-based IT firm under the Ministry of Information
Industry.
Chinese buyers can automatically determine if their battery is
included in the recall by visiting Lenovo's multi-language website
(www. lenovo.com/batteryprogram). Consumers can type the unique
battery number on the back of the product into the website to
determine whether it is affected by the recall. There’s also a
telephone hotline (8008103315-3).?
Lenovo said it would visit consumers at their homes or offices
to exchange the problem batteries within four weeks after receiving
a request.
(Shanghai Daily September 30, 2006)