14 DAY TRIAL // Sony, a company that deals in video games but also a range of other electronic devices, has officially announced that Kaz Hirai, who has been the leader of the PlayStation division of the company, will become both the president and the chief executive officer on the first day of April, replacing Howard Stringer.
Hirai will also become a member of the Sony board in June while Stringer will be given the chairman position when current holder Yotaro Kobayashi decides to retire.
Kazuo Hirai stated when the announcement was made, “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.”
The executive says that the main aims for Sony should be to develop core business, like smartphones and video games, while also turning around the television division and increasing its investment in research and development.
He also hints at more integration between the various devices that Sony is creating, something which will be probably done using the PlayStation Network infrastructure.
Howard Stringer, the outgoing CEO, added, “Kaz is a globally focused executive for whom technology and the cloud are familiar territory, content is highly valued, and digital transformation is second nature.
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.”
Sony has been hit by both the effects of the Japanese earthquake and by the PSN hack during 2011 and the company expects to see a rebound during the current year, driven by the PlayStation gaming division.