Matsushita recalls up to 6000 notebook batteries

Latest notebook manufacturer to worry about overheating hardware

5 September 2006 10:10 GMT / By Amber Maitland

The curse of the faulty batteries has struck another notebook maker, this time Matsushita.

The company is recalling 6000 batteries supplied in notebooks purchased between April and May 2005 and sold in Japan.

The name Matsushita is not a familiar one outside of Asia, as the company doesn’t distribute its Matsushita-branded products in Europe or the US, but it is the parent company of Panasonic.

A Matsushita spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the batteries were not made by Sony or Matsushita itself; he would not, however, identify the supplier.

No one has been injured by the batteries, as it takes special circumstances for them to overheat. If the notebook is dropped or suffers a strong impact, there’s a risk that a tiny spring can loosen, fall off on to the batteries, and cause them to overheat.

Matsushita has not said how much the recall would cost the company.