14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has been having a tough time lately with the image of the company first affected by the PlayStation Network linked hack attack and then by the smaller security breaches caused by the LulzSec group, just as its financial situation took another blow because of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami combo.
But despite the tough times it has seen, Sony is set to bounce back and the company boss believes that in the long term the company will perform better than ever.
Howard Stringer, who is the overall leader of Sony, has told a number of shareholders at the company's annual meeting that, “Our brand perception, you'll be happy to know, is clearly improving again.”
He added, “My foremost responsibility to the board and all of you is to further advance the transformation process, firmly establish Sony's position as a global product, content and service leader in the networked digital era and ensure our continued development and growth.”
Stringer acknowledged that the problems that Sony had were at times compounded by the way it reacted publicly to the crisis and said that he plans to have better public relations in the future.
He also offered a clear figure, saying that 90 percent of those who had been using the PSN before the April attacks have returned to the service, in part because of the generous Welcome Back program that Sony launched.
Stringer has agreed to take a pay cut for last year, with his salary and bonuses falling by 16 percent to just over 4.3 million dollars.
Sony has recently announced a number of changes at the top of the video games-oriented division, with Andrew House set to become overall President and Chief Executive Officer as Kaz Hirai gets a newly created post as chairman.
The company plans to launch a new handheld, called Vita, later this year.