May 29, 2014 04:23 PM EDT
Panasonic Recalls 43,000 PC Batteries After 3 Fires

Panasonic Corp has announced a recall of over 40,000 battery packs used in notebook computers after three incidents of the batteries overheating and catching fire, according to Reuters.

Approximately 43,140 battery packs are affected by the recall.

Panasonic confirmed that an issue occurred during the manufacturing process of the battery packs between April and July of 2011.

The Japanese electronics company will replace the batteries free of charge, according to Reuters.

Two of the incidents occurred in Japan, and another in Thailand, though no one was injured, the company said in a statement.

Panasonic has been trying to shift its focus from volatile consumer markets to more reliably profitable industrial products, like car batteries, according to Reuters.

The company said last week it expects to become the lone manufacturer in Tesla Motors' planned multibillion-dollar U.S. battery factory.

Tesla is seeking a total investment of approximately $3 billion in additional to the $2 billion it has pledged itself to contribute directly to the factory.

A timetable for a decision on Panasonic's investment has not been set yet.

Panasonic signed a contract with Tesla in October to increase its supply to nearly 2 billion battery cells by 2017. Ito also said it would spend over 28 billion ($275 million) on auto batteries this year, twice its current budget. 

Tesla uses similar type of cell used by the affected notebook computers, but Panasonic reps said the batteries involved in the recall were different from the batteries it supplies to the EV automaker.

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