- Sony named the former head of its computer entertainment division, Kaz Hirai, its new CEO replacing Sir Howard Stringer.
Sony (SNE) this morning said it will replace CEO and President Sir Howard Stringer, 69, with Kazuo Hirai, 50, the head of its consumer products and services, effective April 1st.
Stringer, who was named chairman and CEO in 2005, and added the president title in April of 2009, said he’d recommended Hirai to the board of directors as his replacement. Stringer will retain his chairman title.
The announcement comes just one day before Sony’s Q4 report, expected Thursday morning, and follows a 9% drop in Sony’s revenue in the last quarterly report, a result of weak LCD TV sales, along with a collapse in profit in the quarter.
Stringer said Hirai had distinguished himself in driving the PlayStation game console and software business. (Reporters covering Sony or the game business for some time now know Hirai as the hip, energetic, outgoing face of the game biz at the company, as has been my experience of the man.)
Hirai remarked, “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.”
Hirai laid out something of a mission statement:
The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses – primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and gam! e; to tu rn 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 ordinary shares (6758JP) traded in Japan fell �27, or 2%, to �1,364.
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