6,000 Panasonic Laptop Batteries Are Recalled

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. recalled 6,000 batteries used in its Panasonic notebook computers on concerns that they might burst into flames.

Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita is the third manufacturer to recall power cells in a month. Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. in August said they would replace about 6 million lithium ion laptop batteries made by Sony Corp. because they might overheat.

Matsushita said the power cells used in its laptops weren’t made by Sony and declined to name the manufacturer.