Hirai to lead Sony's revamped division
By Jay Alabaster |
March 11, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SONY Corp said yesterday it will reorganize its main electronics businesses and promote the star of its gaming operations to lead a new consumer products division.
The massive new consumer group will be led by Kazuo Hirai, a rising executive who has overseen a recovery in Sony's video game business. The move likely sets the stage for him to one day take over for current CEO Howard Stringer.
The iconic company said it will combine the vast array of products that have made it famous with consumers - including TVs, video games, PCs and mobile phones - into the group.
A second main division will be formed with the company's digital components and business-facing products.
Tokyo-based Sony remains a household brand name, but has lost much of the glow from years past, when products like its Walkman portable music players transformed the electronics industry. It is currently struggling against flashier rivals like Apple Inc and behemoth competitors like South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
Profits have grown in the gaming division under Hirai, with its core PlayStation 3 home console expected to sell 15 million units for the year through March, up from 13 million the previous year.
The company has also generated buzz among gaming aficionados with the recent announcement of a successor to its PlayStation Portable handheld, due to go on sale late this year. Codenamed "NGP," for next-generation portable, it promises flashier graphics on a large screen.
Sony is striving to find a formula for combining such consumer products with its large music and movie holdings, which include the recent movie "The Social Network," about Facebook, and Michael Jackson's "Michael."
The changes revealed yesterday are to be implemented from the start of the company's next fiscal year that begins in April.
The promotion of Hirai, 50, makes it more likely he will one day run the company.
The massive new consumer group will be led by Kazuo Hirai, a rising executive who has overseen a recovery in Sony's video game business. The move likely sets the stage for him to one day take over for current CEO Howard Stringer.
The iconic company said it will combine the vast array of products that have made it famous with consumers - including TVs, video games, PCs and mobile phones - into the group.
A second main division will be formed with the company's digital components and business-facing products.
Tokyo-based Sony remains a household brand name, but has lost much of the glow from years past, when products like its Walkman portable music players transformed the electronics industry. It is currently struggling against flashier rivals like Apple Inc and behemoth competitors like South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.
Profits have grown in the gaming division under Hirai, with its core PlayStation 3 home console expected to sell 15 million units for the year through March, up from 13 million the previous year.
The company has also generated buzz among gaming aficionados with the recent announcement of a successor to its PlayStation Portable handheld, due to go on sale late this year. Codenamed "NGP," for next-generation portable, it promises flashier graphics on a large screen.
Sony is striving to find a formula for combining such consumer products with its large music and movie holdings, which include the recent movie "The Social Network," about Facebook, and Michael Jackson's "Michael."
The changes revealed yesterday are to be implemented from the start of the company's next fiscal year that begins in April.
The promotion of Hirai, 50, makes it more likely he will one day run the company.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
