Sony recalls over 470,000 Vaio laptops over faulty wiring
05 Sep 2008
Mumbai: Japanese electronic giant Sony Corporation is recalling nearly 470,000 of its Vaio laptop computers worldwide following fears the laptops manufactured between May 2007 and July 2008 could contain faulty wiring near the machine's hinge that, in some cases, has caused them to short-circuit and overheat.
Sony said it would offer free repairs in the 48 countries, including the US and the UK, in which the potentially faulty model is on sale.
Sony had known the problem since August last year and opted to wait rather than act quickly to contain the damage, sources said, adding there were cases of some models catching fire and injuring their owners.
Sony said it was aware of 203 overheating cases - 83 of them in Japan – in August last year. A smaller number of Vaio owners had even suffered minor burns, reports said.
The models were sold by the SonyStyle stores and its web site, authorized electronics retailers, and authorised business-to-business dealers across US from July 2007 through August 2008 for between $1,700 and $4,000.
The recall is a major embarrassment for Sony, coming as it does after the recall of 10 million cell phone batteries worldwide in 2006, at a cost of £272 million (¥51 billion), amid fears that they could overheat and catch fire.
While Sony is recalling 73,000 units sold in the US market over the past one year, the number of potentially faulty models across the world is said to be over four lakh.
It is not yet known whether the models sold in India are also being recalled.
The recalled laptop models include the VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000 series. The computer screen size is about 11.1 measured diagonally.
Not all units are affected and consumers should contact Sony to determine if their unit is included in the recall, the CPSC said.
While Sony insists the recall may not have an immediate impact on the company's earnings, the revelation is a blow to Sony's laptop business, which executives hope will be worth $10 billion by the end of the 2011 fiscal.
The recalls, coming one after the other, could also tell on the company's brand value, say analysts.
