Yesterday, Sony announced a replacement for its current CEO. On April 1rst, current CEO Howard Stringer will be replaced by Kazuo Hirai. “Sony names Hirai to replace Stringer as CEO” by Yoko Kubota and Liana B. Baker of reuters.com reports “Hirai [is] a 28-year company veteran known for overseeing the phenomenal rise of the PlayStation gaming system in the United States”.
Hirai’s future seemed to be sealed when “he was promoted to head the company’s consumer products and service businesses, which produce the bulk of Sony’s $85 billion annual sales”.
The main goal for Hirai will to make the company better to compete with other competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Part 1 of the goal is to integrate all Sony entertainment entities to provide a fluid experience. Part 2 would be to reinvigorate the TV division. The article reports, “Sony exited an LCD panel joint venture with Samsung” and also lost TV sales. Their losses are “expected to show a net loss for the fourth year in a row”
Reuters provided a small statement from Hirai:
“The path we must take is clear… To drive the growth of our core electronics businesses – primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and games; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains”
As CEO, Howard Stringer is known for "cost cutting" in the company. In 2011, he was criticized for his handling of the PlayStation security breach - it took him 6 days to announce the breach to customers and revealed that he wasn't aware of a previous breach. Hirai's 28-year experience within the company and technological knowledge of the products would make him a more knowledgeable and prepared CEO than Stringer.
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