Hitachi to Recall 16,000 Sony-made Batteries

Hitachi said on Friday it will recall 16,000 batteries made by Sony for laptop computers, joining a growing list of PC makers recalling Sony batteries.

Hitachi is in talks with Sony about who will foot the bill to replace the lithium-ion batteries, but the number is too small to have any impact on Hitachi earnings, Hitachi spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi said. The batteries were mostly used in laptops shipped to businesses, mostly in Japan, he said. In the past two months, computer makers Dell, Apple Computer, Lenovo, IBM, Toshiba and Fujitsu have recalled Sony batteries, which Sony has said can on rare occasions overheat and catch fire.