Things had been going well for Sony's shareholders after the appointment of Howard Stringer as the new CEO. But, then things started to fall apart, again.

Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) makes the batteries for the laptops from companies like Dell, which as you know are being recalled due to overheating and fires. Sony is also being damaged by concerned that its new PlayStation 3 will launch late. To complicate the competitive landscape, Microsoft has been updating its XBox gaming system and upping its marketing spending. Sony's shares have dropped from about $53 in late April to $39 yesterday.

Under Mr. Stringer it would appear that little has improved, despite the initial optimism of his appointment. The recent bad news could also hurt the company financially, with the battery recall cost hitting as much as $500 million.

Sony is not longer viewed as the engineering powerhouse it once was, introducing innovative products virtually every year. That mantle seems to have passed to Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

With Sony on a spiral down, perhaps Apple will learn something about the road ahead.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Is this a line dance? Last week, Dell's recall of 4.1 billion Sony-manufactured laptop batteries must have sent every laptop manufacturer scurrying to their quality control department. I should have just gone ahead and bought the domain, "applebatteryrecall.com" right then, because here it is 10 days later and guess who's recalling Sony batteries now?

Yep, Apple. The cutest of all computer companies only has 1.8 million batteries as a part of its recall, from 12" iBook G4, 12" PowerBook G4 and 15" PowerBook G4 laptops sold between October 2003 and August 2006 in the U.S. Unfortunately for the headline writers, no Apple laptops actually caught fire, although two consumers did receive minor burns when their laptop overheated.

While no one likes a recall, it doesn't seem as if either Apple or Dell will feel it on the bottom line; and, in fact, Apple stock is up a tick on the news, 21 cents, to $67.52. Sony Corp (SNE), on the other hand, is down nearly 3% to $43.27.

[Photo courtesy Dat Nguyen]

How many reports of overheating lithium laptop batteries must we hear before airport security agents start cracking down on my Dell Inspiron or your Apple MacBook? Sure, the damage intended by terrorists from a seemingly innocuous-looking bottle of liquid would be terrible. But today's reports of overheating -- and in some cases, spontaneously combusting -- laptop batteries brought the considerable specter of an exploding laptop at 30,000 feet.

"Most of the incidents reported to the CPSC occurred around the home, but transportation-safety officials have become increasingly concerned about the threat of a laptop causing a catastrophic fire aboard a commercial jetliner," said the AP version of the report. The New York Times article brought up a fire in the overhead bin of a Lufthansa jet while on the runway in Chicago (no one has confirmed whether or not this battery was housed in a Dell laptop).

With Apple recalling MacBooks because of overheating in June, I have to wonder: how is it that shampoo is verboten, but a potentially flammable laptop can proceed on the plane, to huddle on the floor with all the other laptops, cell phones, Blackberries and illiquid snacks? Investors' minds clearly weren't going where mine is, with Dell down 1.41% in after-hours trading, Apple up a bit, and after-hours quotes unavailable for American Airlines and Delta.