The recalling of Sony-made lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries in 4.1 million notebooks being sold by Dell during the last two years, is unlikely to have a wide impact in India. Speaking to Business Standard from Singapore, a Dell spokesperson said the recalling of the affected batteries is voluntary following about six incidents of notebooks containing these batteries getting overheated and bursting into flames in the US and in Japan. "We have not received any complaints from India as such, although the recalling is applicable to all the affected batteries used in Dell notebooks globally during the last two years," she added.On the issue of replacements, Dell said users have to order for a free battery replacement and in the meantime, they will be advised how to safely use the laptops.The Dell spokesperson said the models that are showing symptoms of getting overheated due to affected batteries were Dell Latitude, Inspiron, XPS and Dell Precision Mobile Workstation notebooks. The batteries being recalled were shipped to customers between April 1, 2004 and July 18, 2006, with the words `DELL' and `Made in Japan' or `Made in China' or `Battery cell made in Japan, Assembled in China' printed on the back of the batteries. "If a customer's battery does not reflect one of these markings, this will not be the part of the recall," the company said in a written answer. According to Dell sources, out of the 4.1 million batteries that are being recalled globally, 2.7 million were sold in the US alone while the rest of its market included the Asia Pacific region, Japan and China. The company however ruled out giving a figure as to how many laptops they have sold in India so far. According to IDC data, some 5.47 lakh laptops were sold in India during 2004-06 by all the leading computer manufacturers. The latest IDC figures say Dell has close to 4% of marketshare in computers (desktops & laptops combined) in India. According to industry sources, the share of laptops is just 8% of the PC base in India. The Dell spokesperson said the batteries being given as free replacement are also being manufactured by Sony. "The manufacturing process of these batteries has been changed to address this particular problem and we are going to continue our relationship with Sony in future," she said. Sony is one of the many partners from whom the company gets batteries and "this is unlikely to affect our other products," she added.To determine if customers' models have the batteries in question, they can log onto www.dellbatteryprogram.com and subsequently place their order for the battery replacement, the company said.
