About 60,000 of the power packs will be replaced in Japan and the rest in China, Daichi Yamafuji, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Sony, said in a phone interview Tuesday.   Oct. 18 - Sony Corp., the world's second-largest consumer-electronics maker, is recalling 90,000 batteries used in its Vaio computers, the first time in a two-month global recall that it's replacing power packs in its own laptops.

 

About 60,000 of the power packs will be replaced in Japan and the rest in China, Daichi Yamafuji, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Sony, said in a phone interview Tuesday. Kyodo News reported Sony may recall an additional 250,000 units globally, citing an unidentified Sony official.

 

Sony said earlier Tuesday it may revise its $1.1 billion annual profit forecast as it recalls more than 8 million batteries worldwide on concern that some cells overheat and become fire hazards.

 

Sony initially said the battery recalls would cost the company between $168 million and $252 million.

 

"We are currently in the process of deciding whether a revision of full-year earnings is necessary," Tokyo-based Sony said in an e-mailed statement. The company didn't provide a reason for an earnings revision.