Toshiba to recall 650,000 PCs

TOKYO: Japanese electronics conglomerate Toshiba Corp. said it would recall memory modules used in its 650,000 notebook personal computers, but that the financial impact of the recall was not immediately clear.

Toshiba, the world's third-largest notebook PC maker, said the memory modules in question may cause computers to freeze, lose data, or computer displays to turn blue, when used under certain conditions.

Notebook PCs containing the faulty memory modules were shipped over about two years from April 2002.

"An exact financial impact is hard to tell at the moment, but it is not likely to be substantial. It would not be something that would affect our business," a Toshiba spokesman said.

He said Toshiba procured the memory modules in question from an outside vendor, but declined to comment on if or how the financial damage would be split between them.

Toshiba shares were up 2.58 percent at 438 yen in afternoon trade, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electric machinery index , which was down 0.61 percent, after the company on Friday raised its full-year net profit forecast by 67 percent.