AN AMERICAN consumer safety watchdog has started an investigation into whether the problem that led to the recall of 4.1 million batteries used in Dell laptop computers could affect other brands.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said that it knew of 339 examples of lithium batteries used in laptops and mobile phones overheating between 2003 and 2005. The batteries were Dell-branded but were made by Sony. It is thought that Sony also supplies batteries to rivals including Lenovo, Toshiba and Apple.

Dell told users: “Under rare conditions it is possible for these batteries to overheat, which could cause a risk of fire.”

About 4.1 million batteries were supplied with new computers and individually to users worldwide. Around 1.4 million of those went to users outside the United States. The recall is the biggest in the history of consumer electronics.

Sony shares closed down 60 yen at Y5,150 after the company said that it would help to pick up the bill for Dell’s battery recall, announced late on Monday. Analysts believe that the recall could cost Sony between Y10 billion (£45 million) and Y50 billion.

Apple recalled 128,000 laptop batteries in May last year because they posed a fire hazard. This year it recalled batteries supplied between February 2006 and May 2006 for use with its MacBook Pro laptop.

Hewlett-Packard, Dell’s closest rival, said that it was not affected by Dell’s move because it does not use Sony batteries.

Dell’s recall comes after a series of reports of the company’s computers bursting into flames. It is the third time in five years that Dell has recalled batteries.

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