Enterprises are literally playing with fire by failing to proactively address manufacturer-initiated laptop battery recalls. Six months after battery manufacturer Sony initiated the largest consumer product recall in history, an Info-Tech survey shows less than half of respondents have actually replaced their batteries. Assess mobile computer inventories now to identify which machines are still using defective batteries – and take steps to replace them without additional delay.

Laptop Battery Recall Had Wide Impact

In 2006, Sony announced that millions of batteries that it had provided to tier 1 laptop computer vendors were defective. Manufacturing inconsistencies had introduced metal shavings into the inner workings of the lithium-ion batteries, making them more prone to failure, ignition, and/or explosion.

The resulting recall affected a number of major vendors, including Dell, Apple, Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Lenovo, and now numbers...