Fujitsu admits its laptop 'overheated and sparked'

Warning to other vendors

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

30th October 2006 10:06 GMT

A Fujitsu-made notebook has caught fire in Japan, the manufacturer admitted late last week. The incendiary incident is the first of its kind to be be officially recognised in a machine lacking a Dell, Apple or ThinkPad logo, and should sound a warning to other vendors caught up in this year's massive battery recall.

Fujitsu was notified of the notebook's self-combustion on 24 October, it said, after a customer reported their machine "overheated and sparked". An investigation revealed the laptop had contained a Sony-made battery covered by the recall Fujitsu put in place on 4 October.

Fujitsu said the event was the "first and only" report of its kind it has received, and that the incident was an "extremely rare case".

Nonetheless, it warned all notebook users whose laptops may be included in the battery recall - full details here - should remove the battery from their machines immediately, "unless absolutely necessary".

To date, many notebook vendors who've recalled Sony-made batteries claim to have received no reports of their machines going up in smoke. Fujitsu's admission suggests that they've simply been more lucky than some of the firms who initiated early battery recalls. ®