Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd. may ask Sony Corp. to compensate them for brand damage and lost business caused by a recall of Sony-made batteries used in laptop computers.

The three companies said they are studying the impact Sony's battery replacements will have on their image with consumers. Tokyo-based Sony's recall of cells has created a shortage, pushing up prices and causing delays in shipments, Taiwanese battery makers said last week.

``A Christmas sales decrease or a failure to launch an upgrade'' of products are examples of damage for which the companies may seek compensation, said Katsuhiko Fujihira, a senior attorney at Morrison & Foerster LLP's Japan practice in Tokyo. ``Lost profit would have to be reasonably predictable.''

The possible compensation claims add to concern that Sony's profit may be eroded after its plan to replace more than 8 million batteries because of overheating and fire risks. The company on Aug. 24 said it would spend between 20 billion yen ($167 million) and 30 billion yen to replace batteries in notebook computers made by Dell Inc. and Apple Computer Inc.

The company hasn't increased its cost estimate since companies including Lenovo Group Ltd., International Business Machines Corp. and Sharp Corp. said they are also recalling Sony- made batteries used in their PCs. Sony has declined to identify computer makers that use its batteries.

Lower Profit

Morgan Stanley Japan Securities Co. cut its forecast for Sony's operating profit in the year to March 2007 by 55 billion yen, citing the cost of battery exchange, analyst Masahiro Ono wrote in a report on Oct. 13. Ono raised his rating on Sony to ``overweight'' from ``equalweight'' on strong earnings next fiscal year.

Sony in July forecast operating profit this year to fall to 130 billion yen from 191.3 billion yen. Net income is expected to rise 5.2 percent to 130 billion yen as sales gain 10 percent to 8.23 trillion yen.

Toshiba, which said last month it would replace 830,000 Sony- made lithium-ion batteries, may seek compensation for lost sales opportunities and a decline in the value of its brand, spokeswoman Junko Furuta said today. That came after Toshiba said on Sep. 19 it would recall 340,000 Sony-made laptop batteries as some of them failed to charge or supply electricity.

Sony spokesman Hiroshi Okubo said he hasn't received a request for compensation from Toshiba and can't comment.

Fujitsu, Hitachi

Fujitsu, Japan's third-largest personal-computer maker, may consider seeking compensation when more information on the impact of the recall becomes available, said Toshiaki Koike, the Tokyo- based company's spokesman. Koike said today that Fujitsu expanded its recall to 338,000 batteries from 287,000 announced earlier this month.

Hitachi, which earlier this month recalled 16,000 batteries, doesn't exclude the possibility of compensation, spokesman Hiroki Inoue said. Sharp, which is recalling 28,000 batteries, hasn't made a decision on whether to claim compensation, spokesman Hiroshi Takenami said.

Shares of Sony rose 2.5 percent to 4,880 yen as of 3 p.m. close in Tokyo. The stock fell 13 percent in the past six months, compared with a 1.8 percent decline in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 16, 2006 03:46 EDT