Toshiba May Seek Damages Over Battery Recall

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Toshiba May Seek Damages Over Battery Recall

By: Mike Zazaian
2006-10-19

Despite the fact that Sony has agreed to foot the bill for the costs of its ongoing li-on battery recalls...

...manufacturers such as Toshiba may seek additional damages for their trouble.

Toshiba announced today that it is investigating the ramifications of seeking further damages for over a million faulty notebook batteries that it received from Sony. Said Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori:

Besides direct recall costs, we are looking into additional impacts (such as damages to product and brand images, and potential loss of sale opportunities). Nothing has been decided. But we dont deny the possibility that we will ask them to cover those damages.

Toshiba, the worlds third-largest notebook PC maker, has recalled over 1,170,000 faulty Sony batteries that had been used in its computers over the past year. The defect entails small metal particles within the battery leaking into the circuitry and other areas, causing short-circuit, and potentially fires or explosions. To date Sony has recalled more than 8 million batteries with the defect from manufacturers such as Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba, Panasonic and Fujitsu.

And while Toshiba is considering further action over the recall, other manufacturers are hesitant to seek further damages from Sony, likely in fear of creating ill-will with one of the worlds largest electronics manufacturers. Said Fujitsu spokesman Toshiaki Koike:

If volume retailers started taking our products off their shelves, that would be a different matter. But nothing like that has happened. We have not seen any clear evidence that we suffered from loss of potential sales or damage to our products image.

Companies such as Fujitsu likely fear the Sony juggernaut, as creating ill-will with one of the worlds largest electronics manufacturers could be very damaging to future business ventures. Toshiba, on the other hand, is welcome to the idea of taking Sony down a peg or two, as the two companies are already locked in a heated battle over the next-generation high-def media formats. With Toshiba backing its HD-DVD and Sony it Blu-Ray, Toshiba has no problem taking a couple hundred million that Sony wont be able to put toward Blu-Ray advertisements.

(via cnet)

Related Articles:

- Toshiba Recalls 830,000 Faulty Sony Batteries, Dell Recalls 100,000
- Sony Recall Could Extend Beyond Laptops
- IBM Recalls 520,000 Laptop Batteries, Sony Woes Continue
- 340,000 Defective Sony Batteries Prompt Toshiba Exchange Offer
- Upcoming Sony Recall Will Only Include Laptops
- Exploding Batteries Forseen By Dell, Documents Say
- Blu-Ray, HD-DVD Recorders Only in Japan, For Now
- Simple Switches Stop Battery Explosion Issues
- YouTube to Feature Video from Universal, Sony, CBS
- Sony Battery Explodes at LAX

* Originally published at TechFreep

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Tags: Exploding Laptop, Sony Battery Recall, Lithium Ion

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About the Author:
Mike Zazaian is the Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster of TechFreep.com, an online publication dedicated to daily technology and science news. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he majored in Film and Video studies with a sub-concentration in screenwriting. While only a minority of Mike's formal education encompassed the technology field, he has worked as a web developer, a freelance web designer, and has been a tech enthusiast for the better part of his life.


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