Kaz Hirai to be Promoted to Sony President

Kazuo (Kaz) Hirai, one of the masters of PlayStations success since he joined the company’s computer and video game division back in 1995 is to be promoted to president and CEO of Sony Corporation, taking effect of his new position from April 1, this year.

Current president and CEO Sir Howard Stringer will be offered a position as board chairman following the retirement of Yotaro Kobayashi (Sony’s Independent Director and Chairman of Nominating Committee) in June.

Kaz was quoted to say: “As challenging as times are for Sony now were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position,”

“I am grateful to Sir Howard and to the Board for their confidence in me, and I look forward to working with everyone at Sony more closely than ever before to build a strong future for our customers, shareholders, partners and employees.”

“Sony must strive to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses – primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and game; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains.”

“The foundations are now firmly in place for the new management team and me to fully leverage Sony’s diverse electronics product portfolio, in conjunction with our rich entertainment assets and growing array of networked services, to engage with our customers around the world in new and exciting ways.”

Sony’s TV division has failed to turn a profit for some time now, but can Kaz turn this around for Sony?

With the release of their new VITA handheld device already happening, the tech world is watching Sony very closely at the moment.  It will be interesting to see what developments this brings for the company in the near future, especially with rumours circulating about PlayStation 4 doing the rounds for a possible 2013 release window and Mr Hirai has been instrumental in the success of the PlayStation brand since its initial launch.

Stringer expressed his confidence in his successor and described Hirai as “a globally focused executive for whom technology and the cloud are familiar territory, content is highly valued, and digital transformation is second nature.”

He added: “I believe his tough-mindedness and leadership skills will be of great benefit to the company and its customers in the months and years ahead. I look forward to helping Kaz in every way I can so that succession leads inevitably to success,” he continued, “It was my honour to recommend him to the Board for the positions of president and CEO, because he is ready to lead, and the time to make this change is now.”

Source: CVG