Sony to recall 90,000 batteries used in its Vaio notebook computers

Mumbai: Sony Corporation joined the battery-recall worldwide, saying it would recall 90,000 of its own Vaio brand laptop computer batteries in Japan and China. Sony said about 60,000 batteries will be replaced in Japan and the rest in China, but declined to say how much the recall will cost.

Sony, which is replacing more than eight million lithium-ion batteries worldwide for Dell, Apple Computer and six other companies on concern some cells overheat and become fire hazards and has announced a cut in its Playstation 3 price, expects a fall in its full-year earnings.

"We are in the process of determining whether a revision to our annual earnings outlook is necessary, taking into account various factors that could affect our group earnings," Sony said on its Web site.

Sony said in August that recalls by Dell and Apple would cost it between ¥20 billion and ¥30 billion, but now it is expected to face an even heavier financial burden with the additional recalls.

In July, Sony said that it expected its group operating profit to come in at $1.1.billion (¥130 billion) in the year to March, down 43 per cent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Toshiba had said it might seek compensation from Sony for possible damage to its brand image and sales from the battery recall.

Although the number of batteries Sony will recall in other markets is not clear at the moment, it is sure to make a big dent in its profit.