Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- A global recall of about 8 million Sony Corp. notebook-computer batteries is creating a shortage that's driving up prices and causing delays in shipments, executives from three Taiwanese manufacturers said.

The shortfall stemming from the largest recall in the consumer-electronics industry may last until next June and customers are waiting an extra two months for shipments, said managers at Gentle Wayeer Electric Co., ETI Pack Co. and Nexcell Battery Co., which make packs from cells supplied by Tokyo-based Sony and competitors such as Sanyo Electric Co.

Sony, the world's second-largest rechargeable battery cell maker after Sanyo, is replacing lithium-ion packs after computer makers including Dell Inc. found that some burst into flames. A shortage of the batteries, used in electronics ranging from laptops to handheld music players, might dent sales during the year-end shopping season.

``It's very critical now, not just for notebook computers but every other application,'' said Peter Hsueh, a general manager at Taipei-based Gentle Wayeer.

Rival battery makers including Sanyo and Samsung SDI Co. don't have the capacity to fill the orders, the executives said. A typical one-month wait for shipments is taking three months, they said. Four to eight cells are used in one notebook battery.

``We cannot comment on the details at this time,'' said Shigenori Yoshida, a Sony spokesman in Tokyo. ``We will make further updates available.''

`Forget About It'

``If we ask for small amounts, we might be able to get supply, but if we order large amounts of more than 2,000 cells then you can forget about it,'' said Eric Lai, manager at Hsinchu, Taiwan-based Nexcell Battery.

Last month, Round Rock, Texas-based Dell expanded its recall to 4.2 million laptop batteries, while Toshiba Corp. sought the return of 830,000 cells. The number of Sony-made batteries being replaced is 8 million since August.

Apple Computer Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd., International Business Machines Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. also announced battery-replacement programs.

Prices for battery cells have risen about 15 percent in the past three months because of the shortage, the three Taiwanese battery makers said. More increases may come this quarter, according to Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., which supplies notebook batteries to Sony, Dell and Hewlett-Packard Co.

``Prices will increase around 10 percent in the fourth quarter,'' said Linda Ho, a sales manager at Taipei-based Cheng Uei. The company is facing a shortage of battery cells, she said, without giving details.

Destroying Batteries

Sony is destroying 43 million cells as part of the recall, said Eric Yu, a Taipei-based manager at ETI Pack, indicating a disposal of as many as 10.8 million batteries. He's been asked by suppliers to accept higher prices on previously ordered batteries.

``If I say no to a price rise, maybe there will be no supply next month,'' ETI's Yu said.

Yu was told of the disposal by Sony workers before IBM and Lenovo recalled 526,000 Sony-made batteries on Sept. 28. He said he doesn't have a figure for subsequent cells destroyed after the IBM recall.

Sanyo, based in Osaka, made 42 million battery cells a month last quarter, while Sony manufactured 27 million, according to the Institute of Information Technology in Japan. Samsung SDI Co. of South Korea, the third-largest producer, made 26 million cells a month, according to the estimates.

Sony hasn't named all the computer makers that may be using defective batteries that can cause laptops to catch fire.

Quality Concerns

The company is setting aside as much as 30 billion yen ($251 million) for costs related to the August recall of batteries used in Dell and Apple computers, Sony spokesman Yoshikazu Ochiai reiterated today. He declined to comment on the costs for the other recalls, or confirm how many batteries Sony makes.

``We originally bought 30 percent of our battery cells from Sony but have lowered that to almost zero because of quality concerns,'' said J.D. Chen, a sales manager at Celxpert Energy Corp., a Taiwanese battery supplier to companies including Hewlett-Packard and Acer Inc.

The recall has helped LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's largest battery maker, gain additional orders, said spokeswoman Tracey Park in Seoul, without providing details.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Hong Kong at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 12, 2006 02:56 EDT