After being slammed for a massive battery recall disaster this year, Sony has recalled up to 1 million digital cameras worldwide, even though the malfunction is not likely to appear in non-tropical regions like Korea.

Sony Korea said Monday that eight of its Cyber-shot digital camera models might not work in warm and humid areas. The cameras may have trouble taking photos, and pictures may be distorted on the display screen, it said.

The firm’s Korean branch said on its Web site that it will repair any affected cameras free of charge, even though such a malfunction has never been reported in South Korea.

``The camera malfunction was only reported in hot and humid areas,’’ Sony Korea’s spokesman Park Jung-hoon said. ``But we have become more active in responding to such issues since the battery accident happened,’’ he said, citing the disastrous laptop battery recall case, which is estimated to cost the firm $440 million this year.

The affected cameras were manufactured between September 2003 and January 2005. The models are DSC-T1, DSC-T11, DSC-T3, DSC-T33, DSC-U40, DSC-U50, DSC-F88 and DSC-M1.

The company estimates about 4,000 of the 1 million units sold could need repairs. Sony Korea didn’t say how many of them were sold in South Korea.

Sony’s net profit for the July to September quarter fell by 95 percent to $14 million from $240 million a year ago. The annual profit is expected to constitute a mere 0.6 percent of total revenue, compared to 2.5 percent last year, according to LG Economic Research Institute.

As the woes continue, rumors have again arisen in South Korea that Samsung Electronics, which is Sony’s main rival in the consumer electronics sector, may take over the troubled Japanese firm within a few years.

However, Sony’s bold decision to recall the cameras contrasts with trends among Korean companies, which consider product recalls as a big disgrace.

Samsung last year was blamed for hiding repairs to washing machines after they were reported to catch fire while operating.

The company ordered its service shops to replace an electric condenser built into about 400,000 washing machines, but it never officially announced the replacement policy to consumers. Later the company explained that it was a typical after-purchase service and was not a recall of the products.

Robin Sheen
Staff Reporter