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Matsushita Battery Suspends Mobile Li-Ion Production After Plant Fire
1 October 2007
Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. is suspending its production of lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones and laptop computers due to a fire at a western Japan plant.
The fire occurred on Sunday at the manufacturing complex at Matsushita Battery’s head office, hitting the building that houses the manufacturing line for lithium-ion batteries for notebook computers.
Matsushita Battery, a unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., is suspending the line along with one for making batteries for mobile handsets, located in the same building, company officials said.
It remains to be seen when Matsushita Battery will be able to resume the operations of both lines, the officials said, adding that the company does not know yet how much damage the fire caused.
Matsushita Battery manufactures lithium-ion batteries in Moriguchi and China, with a combined monthly capacity of 25 million units. The company has not disclosed the capacity of the Moriguchi plant alone.
At present, Matsushita Battery is recalling lithium-ion batteries for Nokia handsets around the world following reports of overheating and fires. A prolonged suspension at the Moriguchi plant could affect the recall as well as the company’s supply of notebook computer batteries to computer makers.
Matsushita is a partner with Toyota in the joint venture Panasonic EV Energy, founded in 1996. Panasonic EV Energy provides NiMH battery packs for Toyota hybrids, and is working on Li-ion systems.
October 1, 2007 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: clett | October 01, 2007 at 08:24 AM
I agree with clett; they must change their development path so they build a safe Li Ion battery.
For some time Toyota appears to be working at cross purposes to our desires to see mass-produced PHEVs and BEVs on the roads. If they are serious about maintaining their lead in these type cars, they should seek a second source for their Li Ion batteries. This time, with a requirement of buying safer batteries.
Kind of reminds me of how Apple squandered their lead in computers to Microsoft.
Posted by: Lad | October 01, 2007 at 11:08 AM
Apple lost the home PC market because of a lawsuit ruling over GUI...."The lawsuit was decided in Microsoft's favor on August 24, 1993."
http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/0825.html
Posted by: gary | October 01, 2007 at 05:08 PM
I know we're way off topic here but... Apple lost the PC market in the 80s and 90s because they failed to realize that they weren't competing against IBM PCs (which they beat for technology hands down at a similar price), they were up against IBM clones that sold for a fifth of the price. Developers and businesses only bought the IBM machines so that they could prove compatibility. At the time I was the head of the systems department of a large law firm that had both PCs and MACs.
Posted by: Neil | October 02, 2007 at 08:49 AM
I personally believe that no best laptop can be universally recognized by all users as long as there are so many manufacturers that produce computers...
Posted by: Everything About The Best Laptops | December 16, 2008 at 07:12 PM
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They've got to be scrambling towards titanate or phosphate electrodes now.