by CIO Staff

Gateway to Exchange 35,000 Sony Batteries

News
Oct 24, 20061 min
Laptops

Gateway is taking advantage of Sony’s battery-replacement program and will exchange approximately 35,000 of its consumers’ batteries, it said Tuesday.

The exchange program covers batteries that began shipping in September 2005 with laptop PC models CX200, CX210, E100M, M250, M255, M280, M285, M465, M685, MP8708, NX260, NX510, NX560, NX860, NX100, MX1025, MX6918b and MX1020j, the company said in a statement. Most were sold through Gateway’s Internet shop. Full details can be found online.

The battery cells are thought to contain metallic particles, which under certain circumstances could cause a short circuit, resulting in the battery catching fire. About 9.6 million battery packs are thought to contain the cells, and about 8 million have already been recalled or offered for voluntary replacement by laptop makers.

Sony plans later Tuesday to offer more details of the problems that have hit its battery business. The recalls and replacements will cost the company about 51 billion yen (US$427 million).

By Martyn Williams, IDG News Service (Tokyo Bureau)

Follow CIO.com’s ongoing coverage of the battery recall story.

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