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"In the digital era speed is everything," Watanabe said. "This is Idei's legacy. The new management knows what it has to do but there is such a big gap. Matsushita is running at full speed and it won't be easy for Sony to catch up."
Watanabe does not expect Sony to lose Dell and Apple as customers because the batteries are highly customised and it would be very difficult for the PC makers to make a switch.
He sees the PS3 production problems as a far more dangerous development because the game division has been a cash cow for Sony, helping keep the group afloat as it posted heavy losses on core electronics products.
"I see a major risk that Sony's presence in the game market will weaken," he said. "Investors will have to start considering the possibility in the future that the game division will not produce any real profits at all."
Sony's stock has lost 5 percent since Dell announced its recall in mid-August, lagging a small gain in the broader Tokyo market. Sony is up some 20 percent, though, since it was announced in March 2005 that Stringer would take the top job.
Certainly things have improved markedly since Sony stunned investors in April 2003 with an unforeseen quarterly loss of about $1 billion in what came to be known as the Sony Shock.
"Sony has no doubt passed through the worst stage," said Ichiyoshi's Akino.
"But investors can't let their guard down."
