Apple recalls 1.8 million laptop batteries
Power devices said to cause overheating risk; Apple sees 'no material impact' on finances; battery maker Sony says recent recalls will cost as much as $258 million.
By Rob Kelley, CNNMoney.com staff writer
August 24 2006: 4:38 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Apple is recalling 1.8 million battery packs for its iBook and PowerBook notebook computers because of an overheating problem, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Thursday.
The cells in the lithium-ion batteries in the iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 computers - the only two models affected by the recall - were produced by Sony.
Also included in the recall is the PowerBook G4 computer.
The recall will have "no material impact" on Apple's finances, according to an Apple spokesman.
Apple (up $0.50 to $67.81, Charts) stock was just slightly lower after the recall announcement, but shares of Sony (down $1.16 to $43.26, Charts) fell about 2.5 percent.
"It's primarily a Sony issue for Dell, so I expect it to be similar for Apple," said Wendy Abramowitz of Argus Research. "Considering that Apple sells a lot fewer PCs than Dell does, I don't see it having a substantial impact."
