Japan: Apple Laptop Fire Fueled by Sony Battery

The government of Japan on Tuesday said an Apple laptop containing a battery with Sony-made power cells caught fire in the country last April, and the incident led to burns on the computer user’s fingers, Reuters reports.

Last week, Japan ordered Sony and Dell to further investigate the faulty lithium-ion batteries that earlier this month caused Dell to initiate a recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries due to fire hazard. Those batteries also contained power cells manufactured by Sony. The Japan government told both firms to report back before the end of the month with their findings or else face fines under the country’s consumer protection laws. Japan said it knew of two instances in which Dell laptops with Sony-made batteries caught fire in the country.

Apple Computer also said last week it would recall 1.8 million laptop batteries containing Sony power cells.

In a statement following Apple’s recall announcement and posted on The Wall Street Journal website, Sony said the two recalls would cost it between $171.7 million and $257.7 million.

Related Links:

• Japan Orders Sony, Dell to Investigate Battery Issues

• Dell to Recall 4.1M Laptop Batteries Due to Fire Hazard

• Apple to Recall 1.8M Laptop Batteries

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.