Are the Japanese getting tired of Sony's growing battery recall scandal?
That's the way it seems, reading the latest story about the recall in the Daily Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper.
Takashi Shimomiya and Tomoki Matsubara, staff writers for The Daily Yomiuri, wrote that Sony has been less than forthcoming in its information about the recall: "... Even after its decision to recall all lithium-ion batteries, Sony only released information on the products over the Internet," they wrote. "Its executives did not explain the problem or apologize to the public, bringing to light its reluctance to disclose information even though faults in production safety can be fatal to users."
The two Japanese journalists pointed out that Sony originally placed the blame on Dell Computer's original Aug. 15 recall on Dell itself. The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 16, "[Sony spokesman Rick] Clancy said other factors after the cells are manufactured can contribute to overheating problems, though he declined to elaborate."
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Sony released information through its corporate website that it would be expanding the recall of lithium-ion batteries used by Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu, in addition to its existing recall of batteries used by Dell and Apple. The press release was not available on other Sony websites.
This expands the total recall to more than 7 million batteries, but the fallout could be much worse to the company.
Although most analysts insisted the earlier recall wouldn't affect Sony as a company, the tide is beginning to turn. "...If the extent of the problems expands further, it would invite worries over Sony's technology and brand image," Tatsuya Mizuho, a director at the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, told the Taipei Times.
Some analysts were much more harsh about Sony's future in battery manufacturing. Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market-research firm, told Dow Jones, "Sony's brand is severely damaged. I think it's going to be a question whether they can be in the battery business at all.
"Given the nature of the relationship, in the real world the way that it plays out is that the [computer manufacturers] decrease what they buy from Sony. They'll say, 'We used to take 2 million from you and 3 million from Sanyo. Now we're going to take 4 million from Sanyo and 1 million from you. And that's punishment.'"
Kay added that the total recall could be as high as 10 million units.
Before Thursday's announcement, Dell had recalled 4.1 million Sony-made batteries and Apple had recalled 1.8 million. After Thursday's announcement, Dell recalled another 100,000 batteries.
Here are the current recall numbers, as of Sunday, Oct. 1:
That's the way it seems, reading the latest story about the recall in the Daily Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper.
Takashi Shimomiya and Tomoki Matsubara, staff writers for The Daily Yomiuri, wrote that Sony has been less than forthcoming in its information about the recall: "... Even after its decision to recall all lithium-ion batteries, Sony only released information on the products over the Internet," they wrote. "Its executives did not explain the problem or apologize to the public, bringing to light its reluctance to disclose information even though faults in production safety can be fatal to users."The two Japanese journalists pointed out that Sony originally placed the blame on Dell Computer's original Aug. 15 recall on Dell itself. The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 16, "[Sony spokesman Rick] Clancy said other factors after the cells are manufactured can contribute to overheating problems, though he declined to elaborate."
On Thursday, Sept. 28, Sony released information through its corporate website that it would be expanding the recall of lithium-ion batteries used by Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu, in addition to its existing recall of batteries used by Dell and Apple. The press release was not available on other Sony websites.
This expands the total recall to more than 7 million batteries, but the fallout could be much worse to the company.
Although most analysts insisted the earlier recall wouldn't affect Sony as a company, the tide is beginning to turn. "...If the extent of the problems expands further, it would invite worries over Sony's technology and brand image," Tatsuya Mizuho, a director at the credit rating agency Fitch Ratings, told the Taipei Times.
Some analysts were much more harsh about Sony's future in battery manufacturing. Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market-research firm, told Dow Jones, "Sony's brand is severely damaged. I think it's going to be a question whether they can be in the battery business at all.
"Given the nature of the relationship, in the real world the way that it plays out is that the [computer manufacturers] decrease what they buy from Sony. They'll say, 'We used to take 2 million from you and 3 million from Sanyo. Now we're going to take 4 million from Sanyo and 1 million from you. And that's punishment.'"
Kay added that the total recall could be as high as 10 million units.
Before Thursday's announcement, Dell had recalled 4.1 million Sony-made batteries and Apple had recalled 1.8 million. After Thursday's announcement, Dell recalled another 100,000 batteries.
Here are the current recall numbers, as of Sunday, Oct. 1:
Dell...........4,200,000
Apple..........1,800,000
Lenovo...........526,000
Toshiba..........830,000
Fujitsu....not announced
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