Sony flamed for battery bungle
As fingers are pointed over laptop batteries that ignite, why aren't Sony's own computers being affected?
It has been the biggest electronics industry recall in history, affecting almost six million laptop owners around the world and two of the biggest names in computing, Apple and Dell. Yet the news last week that Apple is recalling 1.8 million lithium-ion laptop batteries - coming just 10 days after Dell announced a similar recall of 4.1 million batteries placed in machines between April 2004 and July this year - has instead focused attention on Sony, the Japanese company that made all the potentially faulty batteries.
This raises two key issues: what went wrong in the manufacture, and why aren't any other computer companies - particularly Sony - launching a similar replacement scheme for their laptop batteries?
Both worldwide recalls were instituted by the consumer products complaints commission (CPSC), the guardian of America's shoppers. At the heart of all these incidents were Sony batteries, made at its plant in Fukushima, north of Tokyo.
Short circuit
Initially, Sony said the problem was limited to Dell machines; at the time of the first recall, a Sony spokeswoman said "this is an issue specifically down to Dell's battery-charging system". But the experience of some Apple owners and the subsequent recall squashed that theory.
The cause of the fires has been established. When the batteries were made, the metal case of the cell was crimped closed. In that process, microscopic shards of metal could have been released into the electrolyte of the battery and, in some cases, cause a short circuit - triggering overheating or a fire.
Sony sells batteries from its Fukushima plant to electronics manufacturers around the world. Its lithium-ion batteries are everywhere: inside mobile phones, computers, digital cameras and MP3 players. And the sort of laptop batteries in question are found not only in Dell and Apple machines, but also in Sony's own Vaio laptops as well as models by Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, among others. It is the second-largest maker of lithium-ion laptop batteries after Sanyo.
So why haven't other computer firms - including Sony itself - been sucked into recall fever? Different sources give different answers. Sony persists with the argument that machines from Dell (and now Apple) have a charging system that makes any faulty batteries more prone to problems. "Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs," Sony said in a statement. "However, under certain rare conditions, an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially catching fire.
"The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in various notebooks."
Despite the blame-spreading language, however, Sony is bearing much of the cost of the problems, expected to reach at least £100m. That will probably wipe out a quarter of its expected annual profits for the financial year.
The CPSC, on the other hand, put it down to a few batches of batteries supplied to Dell and Apple, and a spokeswoman said that after a widespread investigation, the watchdog does not expect any further recalls to be made.
Some experts say that while it is correct to identify individual faults, the underlying problem is with the technology inside lithium-ion batteries. Ming Chiang, materials science and engineering professor at MIT, maintains that current generation lithium-ion batteries can become unstable if they are overcharged.
This is because they use cobalt oxide, which can become dangerous if overheated - as has happened. Manufacturers are working on fresh approaches, replacing the cobalt oxide with more stable materials such as iron phosphate.
Sparks flew
But none of those explanations matters much to Jamie Currey, a graphic designer from London who is believed to be one of the only British customers who has actually suffered from the overheating problem. Two months ago, his Apple PowerBook became worryingly hot.
"It wasn't plugged in to the mains and I was working on it in the lounge, when sparks flew out and smoke filled the room immediately," he told Technology Guardian. "There was a fizzing and popping sound. I backed away, and when it died down I put the computer outside, where several more explosions occurred."
Currey, who reported his experience to Apple and the London Fire Brigade, says he has adopted a more prosaic solution, changing the way he uses his computer.
"I don't use it with the battery in any more, and advise people to, at the very least, close the lid whenever they are not using their machine," he says.
Bobbie Johnson
Thursday August 31, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
As fingers are pointed over laptop batteries that ignite, why aren't Sony's own computers being affected?
It has been the biggest electronics industry recall in history, affecting almost six million laptop owners around the world and two of the biggest names in computing, Apple and Dell. Yet the news last week that Apple is recalling 1.8 million lithium-ion laptop batteries - coming just 10 days after Dell announced a similar recall of 4.1 million batteries placed in machines between April 2004 and July this year - has instead focused attention on Sony, the Japanese company that made all the potentially faulty batteries.
This raises two key issues: what went wrong in the manufacture, and why aren't any other computer companies - particularly Sony - launching a similar replacement scheme for their laptop batteries?
Both worldwide recalls were instituted by the consumer products complaints commission (CPSC), the guardian of America's shoppers. At the heart of all these incidents were Sony batteries, made at its plant in Fukushima, north of Tokyo.
Short circuit
Initially, Sony said the problem was limited to Dell machines; at the time of the first recall, a Sony spokeswoman said "this is an issue specifically down to Dell's battery-charging system". But the experience of some Apple owners and the subsequent recall squashed that theory.
The cause of the fires has been established. When the batteries were made, the metal case of the cell was crimped closed. In that process, microscopic shards of metal could have been released into the electrolyte of the battery and, in some cases, cause a short circuit - triggering overheating or a fire.
Sony sells batteries from its Fukushima plant to electronics manufacturers around the world. Its lithium-ion batteries are everywhere: inside mobile phones, computers, digital cameras and MP3 players. And the sort of laptop batteries in question are found not only in Dell and Apple machines, but also in Sony's own Vaio laptops as well as models by Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, among others. It is the second-largest maker of lithium-ion laptop batteries after Sanyo.
So why haven't other computer firms - including Sony itself - been sucked into recall fever? Different sources give different answers. Sony persists with the argument that machines from Dell (and now Apple) have a charging system that makes any faulty batteries more prone to problems. "Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs," Sony said in a statement. "However, under certain rare conditions, an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially catching fire.
"The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in various notebooks."
Despite the blame-spreading language, however, Sony is bearing much of the cost of the problems, expected to reach at least £100m. That will probably wipe out a quarter of its expected annual profits for the financial year.
The CPSC, on the other hand, put it down to a few batches of batteries supplied to Dell and Apple, and a spokeswoman said that after a widespread investigation, the watchdog does not expect any further recalls to be made.
Some experts say that while it is correct to identify individual faults, the underlying problem is with the technology inside lithium-ion batteries. Ming Chiang, materials science and engineering professor at MIT, maintains that current generation lithium-ion batteries can become unstable if they are overcharged.
This is because they use cobalt oxide, which can become dangerous if overheated - as has happened. Manufacturers are working on fresh approaches, replacing the cobalt oxide with more stable materials such as iron phosphate.
Sparks flew
But none of those explanations matters much to Jamie Currey, a graphic designer from London who is believed to be one of the only British customers who has actually suffered from the overheating problem. Two months ago, his Apple PowerBook became worryingly hot.
"It wasn't plugged in to the mains and I was working on it in the lounge, when sparks flew out and smoke filled the room immediately," he told Technology Guardian. "There was a fizzing and popping sound. I backed away, and when it died down I put the computer outside, where several more explosions occurred."
Currey, who reported his experience to Apple and the London Fire Brigade, says he has adopted a more prosaic solution, changing the way he uses his computer.
"I don't use it with the battery in any more, and advise people to, at the very least, close the lid whenever they are not using their machine," he says.
Bobbie Johnson
Thursday August 31, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
