Sony Recalls Panasonic Battery Packs Used in Vaio Laptops

Sony Corp. is recalling about 1,700 Panasonic Corp. lithium-ion battery packs installed in Vaio laptops, due to overheating that may pose a fire hazard.

According to a notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, no related incidents or injuries have been reported.

In early 2014, Sony said it would discontinue the sale of PC products, and the company sold its Vaio business to private-equity firm Japan Industrial Partners Inc. At the time, Sony said it would continue providing customer service for existing Vaio customers.

The battery packs subject to the recall have model number VGP-BPS26 and part numbers 1-853-237-11 and 1-853-237-21, and were included in computers sold in 2013.

In March, Toshiba Corp. recalled about 91,000 Panasonic laptop battery packs in the U.S. due to fire risk. At the time, Toshiba said it had received four reports of overheating and melting, with no reports of injuries.

Vaio suffered years of losses before the 2014 sale. Earlier this month, Vaio Corp. Chief Executive Yoshimi Ota said the company expects to report its first operating profit in years for the period ended May 31.

Write to Josh Beckerman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 15, 2016 21:25 ET (01:25 GMT)

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