from the inside, looking in

Another 1.8 million batteries to be recalled….
From Yahoo:

Apple’s recall covers 1.1 million rechargeable batteries in the 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptops sold in the United States from October 2003 through August 2006. The recall also covers an additional 700,000 batteries in laptops sold abroad, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A number of other manufacturers (Fujitsu, Lenovo, amongst others) have come out and said the Dell/Sony recall won’t affect them because of differences in the batteries and peripheral environment in which the batteries operate.

If the recall spreads and these manufacturers end up eating their words, it will be another PR disaster. We’ve seen so many cases of companies issuing statements before the results of a proper investigation has taken place.

Even if the manufacturers are not have direct control over manufacturing faults at the OEM level and are in some sense victims, if they handle the problem incorrectly, they become part of the problem. I must admit some of the other manufacturers were awfully quick to issue statements saying that they are unaffected. Did they do a thorough investigation? Time will tell.