Sony recalls own laptop batteries

<bre>Chicago (IL) - Sony announced today that it is recalling batteries from its own Vaio notebook computers in Japan and China, adding to the seemingly never-ending list of computer manufacturers affected by a massive recall of Sony brand laptop batteries.

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In total, 90,000 Sony Vaio notebooks are said to be impacted in Japan and China. Other countries are possibly also going to be included in the Vaio battery recall. The tally of computers by the battery recall is nearing 8 million.

Dell, Apple, IBM, Lenovo, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Hitachi have all taken their place in the list of notebook manufacturers that use Sony batteries that have been recalled. Since the battery problems first became known, and until now, Sony had ensured that its own laptops were not affected.

The battery problem has expectedly caused Sony to downgrade its earnings forecasts. The cut in price of the upcoming PS3 console in Japan also will lower the amount of sales previously forecasted. "We know that the battery problems will generate certain costs. We have also lowered the price of the PlayStation 3 which will have an impact," said Sony spokeswoman Mami Imada.

The recalls are going to cost Sony at least $257 million, according to company statements in August. The PS3 price cut is also going to have a strong impact on Sony’s earnings, adding more strain on the fact that the PS3 is selling worldwide for much less than it costs to produce. Sony plans on recouping the losses on hardware sales with software sales.

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