Are you the proprietor of a new Sony VAIO Fit 11A Laptop? If so, did you know that your battery is prone to overheat, catch fire, and explode? Sony issued a statement on April, 11th, warning owners of the tablet/laptop hybrid to immediately stop using it, “The safety of our customers is of the utmost importance, so we are advising those with affected models to switch off the unit and discontinue use.”
The VAIO Fit 11A was introduced in February of this year as a small-screen laptop to compete with the larger convertible laptop-tablets, but made little impact, selling only 25,905 units in total; 500 of which were in the US, 7,000 in Europe, and 3,600 in Japan. Sony reported three documented incidents of overheating batteries causing partial burns to electronic components since the computer’s release; the first occurred in Japan on March 19th, second in Hong Kong on March 30th, with the latest in China just a few days ago on April 8th. As a result, the laptop is no longer for sale.
The timing of the incident couldn’t have possibly come at a worse time, given Sony just unveiled plans in February to sell off its dwindling personal computer division to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP), who will continue the VAIO operations in Asia independent of Sony. The VAIO Fit 11A was intended as Sony’s last entry before departing.
The computer’s lithium-ion batteries were not produced in-house by Sony, but were outsourced to Panasonic, confirmed a spokeswoman from the rival company. Panasonic produced similar batteries for multiple companies, customizing requirements to the client’s orders, but no other client reported heating issues.
Recalls are quite common in this industry: computer producer, Lenovo, recalled 150,000 battery packs just last month, and in 2010, Sony’s recalled 535,000 VAIO laptops world-wide, due to a temperature-control defunct that distorted the frame of the laptop.
Via WSJ
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