Share
Bad news for both Sony Corp. and its international notebook customers this week after the Japanese consumer electronics company issued a global product recall connected to potentially dangerous wiring problems in its popular VAIO range.
Sony forced to recall 440,000 faulty units of its VAIO notebook line. Image: aloshbennett/Flickr.
More pointedly, Sony is looking to recall approximately 440,000 VAIO units spread across 19 different model variants, including the VGN-TZ100, VGN-TZ200, VGN-TZ300 and VGN-TZ2000, manufactured in both Japan and the United States between May of 2007 and June of 2008.
In offering its explanation, Sony said that internal wiring wrongly situated close to a display hinge, and also a separate circuit board issue, may be causing certain hardware units to overheat.
AP reports Sony has received more than 200 user complaints referencing overheating problems with the VAIO notebooks in question, and Sony itself has admitted that some users have suffered minor burns as a result.
In terms of sales coverage associated with the potentially faulty computers, Sony has said some 67,000 units were sold in its home territory of Japan, while the remaining 373,000 were sold across various international regions. Units sold in the UK are apparently not affected by the overheating issue.
Sony has urged any VAIO owner who believes their machine to be suffering with an overheating issue to get in contact in order to arrange a hardware inspection and a possible fix if needed. Sony has not said whether or not it will charge customers for any resulting fixes.
Sony is no stranger to product recalls, having suffered through a truly massive recall in 2006 when leading computer vendors including Apple, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba were forced to withdraw more than nine million Sony-made notebook batteries that were prone to overheating and even bursting into flames.
As a result of the latest recall, shares in Sony Corp. fell by more than four percent, dragging value to its lowest point almost three years.
Interested in a more interactive TTH? Join our Facebook Group Want regular updates from The Tech Herald? Follow us on Twitter
Advertising
Comment on this Story