Japanese electronics giant Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic products, has begun recalling some 6,000 laptop batteries due to fears that they may overheat.
Matsushita Electric Industrial is recalling lithium-ion batteries installed in Panasonic-brand notebook computers assembled in April and May last year and sold in the domestic market.
A company spokesman said the problem was different to the one reported by US computer makers Dell and Apple Computer, which have issued recalls for millions of Sony-made lithium-ion batteries.
'The batteries may overheat but they would not start a fire,' the spokesman said. 'The batteries are not products of either Sony or Matsushita,' he added, declining to name the manufacturer.
Apple recalled an estimated 1.1 million laptop batteries in the US and 700,000 more in other countries fearing Sony-made batteries could burst into flames.
Dell announced last month a recall of an estimated 4.1 million laptop batteries made by Sony due to similar concerns.
Matsushita received two reports in January and May that batteries installed in its laptops had overheated and deformed the plastic exterior but no one was injured, the company said.
