Stringer handed the top post to Kazuo Hirai will end a period in which Sony, under Stringer, struggled to revive its creative edge and lost ground first to Nintendo and then Microsoft. It was rare for a foreigner to be at the top of a Japanese company, unfortunately it did not do him or the outfit much good.
Stringer, a Welshman and a former journalist who later ran US broadcaster CBS, became Sony's CEO in 2005. He is known for cost cuts and restructuring, but more for the disasters which appeared to dog his rule. Stringer said that his retirement would let him pursue "new opportunities". He said that he will step down at a shareholders' meeting in June, the paper said.
Hirai is now doubling down on consumer electronics with a focus on mobile phones, tablets and gaming, while shedding non-core assets in a bid to revive Sony criticized as having lost its creative edge.
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Sony’s board chairman Howard Stringer, who headed the company as chief executive for a pretty much disastrous six years, is set to retire in June.
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Nick Farrell
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