Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu May Ask for Sony Battery Compensation

Japan’s Toshiba, Hitachi and Fujitsu, three producers of PCs, said they are considering requesting compensation from Sony over recalls launched at the three firms due to defective Sony-made lithium-ion laptop batteries that could overheat and catch fire, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sony has come upon troubled times over the past few months, with the first major recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries containing Sony-made fuel cells announced by Dell in August. Apple Computer wasn’t far behind with its recall of 1.8 million batteries, and almost every other major PC maker has since announced similar recalls, including Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Lenovo and Acer. Hewlett-Packard is one of the only leading PC producers not to announce such a recall.

Sony Headquarters

Toshiba has recalled roughly 830,000 Sony-made batteries in two separate recall announcements. It plans to study the actions’ effects on its brand and sales and is considering requesting damages from Sony on top of the base recall costs, according to the Journal. Hitachi and Fujitsu also said they may ask for such compensation, the Journal reports.

No additional PC makers have hinted at requesting compensation on top of the base costs of the recall, which Sony has said it would cover, according to the Journal. The Japanese electronics maker said in August that it estimated the costs of the recalls at between $170 million and $255 million, though that announcement was made before a number of the PC makers launched their recalls, the Journal reports.

CIO.com is on the Sony battery recall story, and we’ll do our part to post all the latest developments. 

Related Links:

• Sony Battery Recalls: Who’s Next?

• Sony PlayStation 3 Woes Weigh on Stock

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