PC Retail

Battery recall forces drop in Sony forecasts

Andrew Wooden Oct 19 2006, 11:30am

Sony has significantly reduced its 2006 profit forecast, following the recent laptop battery recall that is expected to cost in the region of £230m.

Pre-tax profit forecasts have been cut by 53 per cent in the wake of the recall, which was precipitated by reports that given the right circumstances the batteries could overheat and catch fire. Overall eight million laptops have been recalled from manufacturers such as Dell, Toshiba and Apple.

The lower forecasts also take into account the European delay of the Playstation 3 and its reduced price in Japan – both of which are contributing factors to the expectation that the console will make a loss during its launch phase.