Fujitsu recalls laptop batteries

Dell laptops were the first to be affected by the recall

Computer maker Fujitsu has said it is recalling 287,000 Sony laptop batteries because of a potential fire risk.

The withdrawal means that more than seven million laptops made by Toshiba, Lenovo, Dell, Sony and Apple have now been affected.

The recalls began in August with the first warnings that Sony's lithium-ion batteries could overheat or catch fire.

Analysts have said the battery exchange could affect up to 10 million computers and cost Sony as much as $500m (£265m).

This would halve the net profit of $1.1bn that the electronics giant is forecasting for the year to 31 March 2007.

Share slide

Sony's share price has been hit by both the recall and the recently-announced delay to the European launch of its new Playstation3 video games console.

The shares are down more than 10% since the laptop battery problem emerged in mid-August.

Sony Energy Device Corporation also makes batteries for laptop makers including Hewlett Packard, Sharp and Hitachi.

It produces similar batteries for many other portable electronic devices, such as DVD players and games consoles, but so far there has been no sign of a recall affecting any of these products.