SAN DIEGO, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Apple Computer announced a voluntary recall of lithium ion battery packs used in certain Apple notebook computers. The recalled packs contain battery cells originally manufactured by Sony.

Sony is committed to the safety of consumers and supports this recall by our customer Apple.

At this time, Sony anticipates no further recalls of battery packs using these particular battery cells.

The recall arises because, on rare occasions, microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery cells may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell. Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs. However, under certain rare conditions, an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially flames. The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in different notebook computers.

Sony has introduced a number of additional safeguards into its battery manufacturing process to address this condition and to provide a greater level of safety and security. We believe the issue has been addressed to the satisfaction of our customers.

Sony currently estimates that the overall cost to Sony in supporting the recall programs of Apple and Dell will amount to between 20 billion yen and 30 billion yen. This overall cost is an estimate based on the costs of replacement battery packs and any other related costs to be incurred by Sony.

Contacts: In the U.S.: Rick Clancy Sony Electronics Inc. rick.clancy@am.sony.com In Japan: Yoshikazu Ochiai Sony Corporation yoshikazua.ochiai@jp.sony.com Takashi Uehara Sony Corporation Takashia.uehara@jp.sony.com

CONTACT: U.S., Rick Clancy of Sony Electronics Inc., +1-858-942-3020,
rick.clancy@am.sony.com; or Japan, Yoshikazu Ochiai, 03-5448-2200,
yoshikazua.ochiai@jp.sony.com, or Takashi Uehara, 03-5448-2200,
Takashia.uehara@jp.sony.com, both of Sony Corporation