Panasonic calls back 6,000 laptop batteries

Panasonic has joined Apple and Dell in recalling laptop batteries, amid concerns that they may overheat.

Unlike the worldwide recalls affecting several million batteries that Apple and Dell announced, Panasonic’s recall covers just 6,000 lithium-ion batteries installed in Let’s Note CF-W4G laptop sold in Japan in April and May 2005.

Akira Kadota, a spokesman for Matsushita, Panasonic’s parent company, said that the problem is caused by the battery covers which could work loose because of a fault in the design of the latch.

Kadota said that unlike Apple and Dell’s batteries, the problematic units were not made by Sony, but said that a confidentiality agreement with the manufacturer prevented him from disclosing its identity.