Sony's Battery Recall Expands, Again

Sony and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said late Monday that it would recall an additional 340,000 batteries due to a fire hazard. Fujitsu, Sony, and Toshiba have expanded their previously announced callbacks, while Gateway joined the growing list of affected companies.

While a spokesperson for Gateway says it has not received reports of Sony batteries overheating like they have in other companies systems, the company decided to issue a voluntary recall of 34,000 batteries across 18 lines.

In addition, approximately 210,000 Toshiba, 85,000 Sony, and 40,000 Fujitsu batteries are also being recalled in the United States. The CPSC said the total number of batteries worldwide affected in Monday night's recall could reach 3 million. Last week, Sony said the number of faulty batteries had surpassed 10 million units.

The faulty batteries were sold in Fujitsu laptops from June 2005 through October 2006; in Gateway systems from September 2005 through October 2006; in Sony systems from December 2004 through October 2006; and in Toshiba laptops from September 2004 through October 2006.

While the laptop battery recall is becoming quite extensive, the CPSC says there is no threat of overheating in Sony-produced batteries for other types of electronic devices.

Sony recently indicated it would be setting aside 51 billion yen ($429 million) for costs associated with the issues, which would appear in last quarter's financial reports. However, some analysts say that figure could double due to legal actions over the recall.