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On 6/20/09 17:43 , Alan Browne wrote:
>
>>> All this is is a ploy to force OEM battery purchases.
>>
>> Sure, I accept there can be a forced OEM purchase angle as well as it
>> being
>> a way to head off iffy third-party sweatshop parts. Those are the
>> extremes
>> of control and greed, and you get it in the pharmaceutical, IT, and print
>> industries. It's dumb but there you go.
>>

There may be other motives. One: Product liability. Third party
batteries may or may not be safe alternatives to OEM. Product liability
actions, whether or not justified, whether or not won, are expensive.
And in numbers, VERY expensive.

Forcing OEM batteries may limit potential product liablity actions by
limiting product to OEM spec batteries. If there is an issue with an OEM
battery, a free replacement may be offered, as Delphi did with some
portable XM receiver batteries, before cataclysmic results. In the event
of a failure resulting in damage or injury, such good faith efforts can
limit judgements.

If there is a third party battery incident, users holding Panasonic
liable can tie up the Legal department for years, resulting in hundreds
of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in costs and settlements, even
if it can be demonstrated that the third party battery manufacturer, not
Panasonic, is liable.

Anybody can sue for anything. Even a baseless suit requires a legal
response. That costs.

Forcing OEM battery use can limit, though not eliminate, product
liability costs.

That there is a second profit motive, spurring OEM sales, doesn't hurt.

Nakamichi, on it's portable cassette machine, a high drain device,
specifically recommended against SOME types of batteries on performance
grounds. Some batteries produced irregular variations in output voltage
under high drain, though constant conditions, compromising performance
of the device. Some batteries had too high an internal resistance, also
compromising performance of the device. Nakamichi approved batteries,
including, but not especially, Nakamichi branded batteries, produced
specific performance, with user perceivable differences in device
performance. Prompting complaints.

Complaints, like legal actions, require response. Response costs.

Nakamichi was quite specific that it would not honor, or even hear
complaints about the device if non approved batteries were used.

So it can be with Li-ion batteries in digital cameras, which are high
drain devices: there may be device performance effects with less well
manufactured batteries. This can produce performance issues that would
increased manufacturer warranty costs.

While corporate entities have certainly demonstrated, in recent
years, a history of being bad citizens, forcing OEM component use does
not, perforce, imply untoward motives.