In a Wednesday-released statement, Sony Corp. announced the recall of nearly 535,000 Vaio laptops globally, in response to the users' complaints about a temperature-control-related defect which resulted in the overheating of these laptops.

Thus far, Sony has received 39 problem reports in all, including 26 in the US alone; with most of the users complaining about the overheating and distortion of the shape of their Vaio laptops.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment bigwig also said that the overheated laptops might also cause skin burns; even though no such cases have been reported.

Sony has explained that the overheating may occur when an adapter is plugged in to charge the battery, after the power is all used up. The company is offering a software application download for fixing the flaw, about which registered users have been notified via e-mail.

Sony has said that the recall largely pertains to some of Sony's F and C-Series Vaio laptops sold since January this year. Specifically speaking, the recall applies to almost 259,000 laptops in the US; nearly 100,000 in Europe;
120,000 in Asia; and 52,000 in Japan.

Despite the fact that the recall of the Vaio laptops comes at a time when Sony is expecting a return to a profit this fiscal year - after two consecutive loss years, a Sony spokeswoman said that the company does not expect the recall to have any notable effect on its earnings.