Sony has launched a global replacement programme for its laptop batteries after Lenovo, the Chinese PC maker, and Japan's Toshiba became the latest in a string of companies to recall the components on fears they could catch fire.

Lenovo’s recall of more than 500,000 batteries follows similar moves by rivals Dell and Apple and brings the number of Sony batteries recalled to around 7 million. The Lenovo recall came after a laptop manufactured by the company using Sony parts caught fire in Los Angeles Airport earlier this month.

Dell also said in a statement today that it was recalling a further 100,000 Sony batteries - taking the total of Dell machines affected to 4.2 million.

Soon after the Sony announcement, Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said it was recalling further batteries from the dynabook, Satellite, Qosmio, TECRA and PORTEGE laptop ranges, a move expected to affect 830,000 computers worldwide.

Fujitsu followed suit, saying it would exchange battery packs used in its FMV notebook computers although no malfunctions had been reported with them.

The latest embarrassments for Sony will place more pressure on Sir Howard Stringer, the Welshman who is the first foreigner to lead the iconic Japanese group. Following the Dell and Apple announcements, Sony said the recalls would cost up to 30 billion yen (£136 million) – equivalent to about a quarter of Sony’s net profit for the full year to March.

Analysts said that estimate from Sony was conservative and was not likely to be increased in the wake of the latest recalls.

However, Sony has also suffered a string of delays and spiralling costs linked to its next generation PlayStation 3 games console, and is suffering problems in manufacturing its Blu-ray DVD products – both of which are expected to hit this year’s results.

Shares in the Japanese electronics group fell 1 per cent in Tokyo after news of the Lenovo recall was confirmed. The stock has lost nearly 9 per cent of its value since Dell announced its recall of Sony-made batteries in mid-August.

The move could also affect fliers as airlines review safety measures. Earlier this week Virgin Atlantic relaxed a ban on passengers using Dell and Apple machines on its flights as long as their serial numbers were checked by a member of the cabin crew. The carrier today said its flight safety team was aware of the latest developments and that policies would be amended accordingly and relayed to passengers before take off.

In a statement Sony said it was discussing the battery replacement plan "with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and will coordinate with other government authorities as required. We will announce details of the program in the near future."

It added: 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 possibility of 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."

In April, Sony posted a 68 per cent rise in full-year operating profits to ¥191.2 billion (£935m) but hopes that the Japanese electronics-to-media group could finally be staging a concerted recovery were overshadowed by concerns over larger than expected costs for the launch of the PS3.

At that time it said it expected its games division to rack up an operating loss of ¥100 billion (£456,000) this financial year amid spiralling PS3 costs. That hit was expected to cut operating profits in half - to ¥100 billion - from last year.

To read the Sony statement click here.

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