Since its Japanese launch in December last year, there have been 31 instances of PlayStation Vitas spontaneously combusting while on charge. Sony’s been investigating. Is there some sort of underlying electrical problem with the Vita’s hardware?
According to Sony, no. After submitting their reports to Japan’s National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, they’ve come to the conclusion that the hardware’s just fine. The melting Vitas, they say are the result of human error; Sony believes that the problem "is with people having liquids or other objects inserted in the connection".
Humans have erroneously gotten liquid inside their chargers, with the expected result of them no longer working. A spokesperson for Sony has said that the problem "is not related to a product malfunction and will thus not result in a recall." What that means is that affected users are going to have to pony up for the repairs themselves. Of the 31 reported cases thus far, 23 of the charging malfunctions occurred in Japan, with the remaining eight across North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.
I don’t quite buy their reason – but with most of the faults happening in kooky Japan as a result of “objects inserted in the connection,” they could be right.
Last Updated: July 25, 2012
