On Friday Lenovo Group Ltd said it was recalling half a million batteries used in Thinkpad and Lenovo laptop computers worldwide because they could explode.

 

With the announcement all top PC makers - Dell Inc, Hewlett Packard Inc and Lenovo – are recalling the problematic lithium-ion batteries made by Sony Corp which have been found to overheat and in some cases they've exploded. ??

 

Lenovo, China's No. 1 and the world's No. 3 personal computer manufacturer is recalling 526,000 batteries for its Thinkpads and 2,460 for Lenovo-branded laptops through cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies.

 

The batteries involved in the recall were installed in the Thinkpad T, R and X models, the X60s and the Lenovo Tianyi F40 and F40A machines. ?

 

The batteries were on the market from last February to this month and approximately 5-10 percent of the total sold during that time are being recalled, Lenovo said in a statement. "Sony provides the financial support for the recall," they said but declined to elaborate.

 

Lenevo announced the recall program after a Thinkpad T43 exploded during use in a Los Angeles airport two weeks ago.

 

Before that HP, the world's No. 2 PC maker, recalled 135,000 Sony batteries. Dell, the world's No. 1 PC manufacturer, recalled 4.1 million Sony batteries. This was the biggest recall in the history of the electronics industry. Other PC vendors, including Apple, Toshiba and Panasonic have also recalled the product. ?

 

Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC unit last year, held 30 percent of the domestic laptop computer market in the second quarter with sales totaling 900,000 units, according to CCID Consulting, a Beijing-based IT firm under the Ministry of Information Industry.

 

Chinese buyers can automatically determine if their battery is included in the recall by visiting Lenovo's multi-language website (www. lenovo.com/batteryprogram). Consumers can type the unique battery number on the back of the product into the website to determine whether it is affected by the recall. There’s also a telephone hotline (8008103315-3).?

 

 

Lenovo said it would visit consumers at their homes or offices to exchange the problem batteries within four weeks after receiving a request.

 

(Shanghai Daily September 30, 2006)