Sony Restructures, Names Stringer President

Kris Erickson • Feb 27, 2009 • Comments ()

There were some big changes at Sony today, in the wake of disappointing third quarter results and ongoing uncertainty about the strength of the consumer electronics market. The company announced that is current president, Ryoji Chubachi, will step down on April 1, 2009. Chubachi will be replaced by current CEO Howard Stringer, who will also retain his status as Chief Executive. Before taking on his current leadership position at Sony he helped oversee the media segment of Sony in the United States, where he presided over the release of the successful Spiderman films.

Sony also made some big changes to its internal organization, by forming two new divisions. One division, made up of the Playstation gaming family as well as the VIAO notebook line, will be headed up by Kaz Hirai. A second new division unites the Sony Bravia television business and the Cybershot digital camera line.

According to CEO Howard Stringer, these new changes are meant to position Sony as a more integrated and flexible firm that can share resources between divisions:

“Consumers want products that are networked, multi-functional and service-enhanced utilising open technologies, and user experiences that are rich, shared and, increasingly, green. This reorganisation is designed to transform Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company with its next generation of leadership firmly in place. The changes we're announcing today will accelerate the transformation of the company that began four years ago. They will now make it possible for all of Sony's parts to work together to assume a position of worldwide leadership and, together, achieve great things.”

More integration between Sony product lines seems like a good thing, although we can’t say that we felt it lacking in products like the PSP, which have already done a good job of capitalizing on the company’s strengths.