NTT DoCoMo recalling 1.3 million Sanyo batteries

Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, and we actually believed (ever so slightly, mind you) that these battery recalls had reached their end, here's another 1.3 million that are being returned to sender. Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo has recalled 1.3 million Sanyo-derived batteries due to multiple reports of the Li-ion cells generating "excessive heat" and causing "ruptures" in some instances. The batteries are reportedly found in claims made by Sony, but doesn't exactly provide for happy holidays when you consider that the company actually lost users (17,500 to be exactly) overall last month, which hasn't happened since the firm opened in July 1992.

[Thanks, kaztm]

[Matt @ Dec 7th 2006 6:09PM]

Good thing I have a Motorola cause i don't want my ear exploding.

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 7th 2006 6:28PM]

Yet somehow, since it's not Sony, this will disappear in about two days when the story is no longer on the first two pages...

[Chris Merchant @ Dec 7th 2006 6:35PM]

Gotta love that Engadget member's readiness to bash Sony to death, huh?

I've got a few Sanyo devices I might need to check up on though, but you're right, if this was a Sony product, the bashers would be on top of this already

Chris

[John Doe @ Dec 7th 2006 9:37PM]

Maybe if Sanyo had the track record of Sony with its trojan rootkits, arrogant statements that would make a dictator blush, and an outright attitude that they can do whatever they want and the consumer can go fuck themselves. Maybe then people wouldn't let it drop. As it stands Sony is being a jackass through and through and they deserve all the crap they get from people who don't brown nose their products like good little lackey fanbois.

[kaztm @ Dec 7th 2006 7:19PM]

Chris,

The bad news for all of us is that Sanyo is the biggest Li-ion battery supplier in the world, and therefore, their battery packs and cells are used in many devices that we use.

But the good news is that according to Sanyo, the faulty battery packs were manufactured by its subsidiary Sanyo GS Soft Energy which Sanyo purchased from GS Yuasa in 2003, and since the subsidiary uses "completely" different design and manufacturing processes, the problem is contained to the subsidiary's product, which is less than 20% of all Sanyo Li-ion batteries.

Of course, "less than 20%" equates to 10 million batteries per month, but let's pretend we didn't realize that...

[Mike @ Dec 7th 2006 7:11PM]

Holy Crap @ Jayson!

I think you just figured it out. I've kinda sat silent and watched everyone bash the heck out of Sony. I just thought this article as a bit too far. Thanks for calling this one out.

[Manuel @ Dec 7th 2006 7:20PM]

i misread SONY instead of sanyo...

*sarcastic smile*

[kaztm @ Dec 7th 2006 7:54PM]

Well Jayson,

I'd like to think that Engadget didn't bash Sanyo in this post because I have suggested to them that they keep their criticism constructive when I sent the news.

Perhaps I'm naive, but I like Engadget, and I'm happy to see that they have learned from their mistakes.

So, let's not bash Engadget when they are doing things right. Trust me, if Engadget ever again accuses that Sony (or whatever company for that matter) is running deceitful advertisement and on the next day or so wag its tail and join PS3 event and brag about it without any evidence of confronting them regarding the ad, I will be all over them (or simply just leave and never come back).

[humpty @ Dec 7th 2006 8:18PM]

katz.. how did engadget learned their lesson? What about this non-sense statement:

The batteries are reportedly found in claims made by Sony, but doesn't exactly provide for ...


wtf is he trying to say there?

[Castle @ Dec 7th 2006 8:59PM]

Well, these are general problems with Li-On batteries that are hard to avoid, people want longer batteries that take up little space and processors that are powerful (that run hot), there are physical boundaries that are hard to design around.

Unfortunately, when you sell millions of them you are going to have issues like this.

[Jason @ Dec 7th 2006 9:16PM]

kaztm:

I wish I could agree with you but I can't help but see the meaningless sentence as another stab at Sony. After so many bad articles I cannot help but question the motives of misquoting the article.

I too am a long time fan of Engadget and like to think that eventually they will get back on track.

[Jared Lubrico @ Dec 7th 2006 10:52PM]

Oh crap, I have an NTT Docomo Phone >< My first battery recall, wo0t !!

[Tech^Cellfish @ Dec 8th 2006 4:19AM]

Sony - Sanyo

Must be something about the names

[tonyatf @ Dec 8th 2006 6:52AM]

Jesus Christ!!!!

Do you people at engadget just got out of your way to bash Sony, especially with a poorly written sentence just to get sony's name on this "article" -and I use the term article lightly.

Does some marketing firm owned by microsoft write engadget a check whenever you guys bash sony? Possible. I've already learned that marketing firms are being used to spread discontent about blu-ray over the message boards, perhaps engadget is part of a marketing plan to belittle Sony.

I am surprised you guys at engadget don't try hard enough to mask all the sony hate there.

[PG @ Dec 8th 2006 7:33AM]

ANYWAY, IF YOU WANT EXPLOSION, THEN BUY A JAPANESE BATTERY PRODUCT.