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I recently read Copies in Seconds the brilliant biography of Chester Carlson, the inventor of the Xerox machine. The early machines were, I guess you could say, a tad bit unreliable. Xerox actually sold fire extinguishers along with the copiers for when, not if, the copiers burst into flames.

If there's any one thing to avoid in a product, it's spontaneous combustion. Now Dell is recalling 4.1 million laptops because the batteries also burst into flames.

The batteries were manufactured by Sony Corp. and used in Latitude, Inspiron, and Dell Precision portable PCs sold between April 2004 and July 18, 2006, Jess Blackburn, a spokesman for Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, said yesterday in an interview.

The action follows Dell's slowest sales growth in four years after US consumers complained that the company's discounts are confusing and telephone hold times too long for service.

Dell in May said it will spend $100 million to improve service and product quality to regain market share lost to Hewlett-Packard Co.

"Dell is trying to bolster its image and this is certainly not going to help," said Brent Bracelin, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., who rates the shares "sector perform" and doesn't own them. "Another recall is yet another setback for the company that is struggling to regain share in the market."

Posted by edelfenbein at August 15, 2006 9:20 AM