Sony to Help Dell Pay for Battery Recall

Sony Corp. will help pay for a recall by Dell Inc., the Texas computer company, of laptop computer batteries, which the Japanese company supplied.

Sony also said the safety problem that sparked Dell’s recall of batteries could only occur in Dell’s computers, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The voluntary recall of some 4.1 million laptop batteries, which arose from news that Sony’s lithium ion batteries may overheat and ignite, is the largest in Dell’s history.

The exact amount that Sony would contribute financially for the recall was not disclosed. One industry analyst estimated that the total cost of the recall would be about $400 million.

The same Sony batteries have been sold to other computer makers, but Sony has declined to identify those customers.