Battery recall forces drop in Sony forecasts

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. Sales of Playstation Portable consoles are also expected to miss previous estimations.