Sony Corp. said it would replace rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for notebooks that contain Sony-made cells for its customers all around the world. The move indicates that mobile computers from all manufacturers can catch fire or explode if it is equipped with such a battery.

“Sony Corp. will initiate a global replacement program for certain battery packs that utilize Sony-manufactured lithium ion cells used by notebook computer manufacturers in order to address concern related to recent over-heating incidents,” a statement by the company reads.

Sony is discussing this plan with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and will coordinate with other government authorities as required. The company also plans to consult with its OEM customers that utilize the potentially dangerous battery cells and work with those that choose to participate regarding quantity and the scheduling of replacement battery packs. Sony did not estimate how much the replacement program may cost and also did not say whether it intends to replace batteries for its own Vaio notebooks.

Back in August Apple and Dell have recalled combined 5.9 million – 1.8 and 4.1 million respectively – batteries for notebooks after several incidents, in which batteries produced by Sony flamed and/or exploded. In mid-September Toshiba said to replace 340 thousand of laptop batteries also made by Sony, as those could run out of power unexpectedly. Additionally, Panasonic said it would recall batteries for 6 thousand of its laptop batteries that contained Sony-made cells due to fire hazard. Finally, Toshiba said it would recall 838 thousand batteries for its notebooks, Lenovo announced plans to replace 526 thousand rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that include cells supplied by Sony and Dell said would recall 100 thousand more batteries, increasing its total numbers of accumulators to be recalled to 4.2 million.

To date, the total amount of Sony-made rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to be recalled exceeds 7.3 million of units.

Back in August a spokesman for Sony indicated that Sony Electronics was “speaking regularly with its battery customers” and expressed opinion that the recalls would stop with Apple and Dell, implying that HP and Lenovo, another notebook suppliers who used batteries by Sony, will not recall their products. Sony itself said it would not replace batteries for its own Vaio notebooks.

Sony said in an official statement that 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 company indicated. The potential for this to occur can be affected by variations in the system configurations found in different notebook computers.