6,000 Matsushita Laptop Batteries Recalled

September 6th, 2006: In the third incident of its kind in little over a month, Panasonic has recalled 6,0000 Matsushita laptop batteries citing potential overheating problems.

The recall comes soon after both Dell and Apple issued mass recalls for Sony-made lithium-ion batteries that were overheating, with some even damaging hardware or catching fire.

Matsushita says that the issue exists with laptops assembled in Japan during April and May 2005, however, it has also stressed that the units would only be at risk of catching fire if damaged. A spokesman for the electronics giant also pointed out "the problem with our batteries is completely unrelated to the recent trouble with Dell's PCs."

Last month Dell recalled 4.1m laptop batteries, while Apple recalled 1.8m last week. Analysts are speculating that the recall could cost Dell and Sony up to US$400m in replacement units.

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