Sony Vaio Recalls Defected Laptops: Some Lessons for Small Business Owners

Vaio EA Arabesque

First of all – the newsflashes: Sony Vaio recalls 535,000 laptops due to Vaio laptops’ defect on internal temperature management system, causing overheating, that may also cause excessive heat and distort its shape.

Please also read this Sony Vaio’s official notice regarding this matter on its Europe site.

Indeed, product recalls are actually quite common – but I personally don’t take it lightly when it comes to household names, such as Sony – not mentioning I am a longtime fan of Sony Vaio laptops – this article is, in fact, written on a Vaio laptop. But enough rants.

On the Sony Europe official site, they wrote:

Dear Valued Sony VAIO Customer,

Sony takes pride in the quality of its products.

Recently, we became aware of a potential issue affecting certain notebooks within the VAIO VPCF11- and VPCCW2-series, available on the market in Europe since January 2010.

In rare cases, these notebook computers can overheat due to a potential malfunction of the internal temperature management system.

I don’t know how about you, but I can’t discern the notice well. Here’s what bother me: if Sony takes pride in the quality of its products, why fooling around with such defects? In this case, I have to agree with the Inquirer’s article regarding the Vaio laptops defect.

Lessons from the Sony Vaio laptops recall

1. Don’t play around with loyal consumers

Obviously, Sony doesn’t want to take things for granted. However, with such headline-maker releases (was a hot topic on Google Trends,) Sony could at least take care its press releases better.

Why am I saying this? Firstly, the Sony Europe’s official notice that could somewhat misled. Secondly, the official Sony Europe site’s copyright is 2002-2009. It’s probably the smallest detail, but is this how Sony takes pride of its quality?

2. Fixing things is resource-intensive

Recalling some 500,000 laptops worldwide is resource-consuming. Not mentioning the damages in reputation and financial markets.

Just like the age-old quote – prevention is better than cure.

3. React fast

Sony reacted fast in recalling its Vaio laptops. When you react fast in responding to problems, the financial and reputation damages can be repaired quickly. Tarrying would only worsen things up.

Any opinions on the Vaio laptops recall? Please share yours by commenting on this article.

Ivan Widjaya
Small business lessons from Sony Vaio