All Hail Sir Howard, King of Sony
by John Paczkowski
Posted on February 27, 2009 at 8:55 AM PT
What has become of the Sony known for its technology? I hope it will solve its problems soon to quickly recover its brand image reputed for technological prowess.”
– Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister and former Sony employee Akira Amari, October 2006
Now that Sony’s old guard has taken what was once a strong electronics and gaming brand and run it into the ground, the company’s new guard is circling back to resurrect it. This morning the company announced a management overhaul that will see CEO Howard Stringer succeed Ryoji Chubachi as president and assume responsibility for Sony’s key electronics division. It will also see the creation of two new business groups: The first, Networked Products & Services Group, will consolidate Sony Computer Entertainment, the company’s Vaio division and its mobile and Walkman unit. The second, the New Consumer Products Group, will include Sony’s TV, digital imaging, home audio and video businesses. Spanning the two groups will be a cross-divisional software and technology unit charged with ensuring compatibility among their products.
Sony (SNE) says its new structure is aimed at giving the company the agility it has so sorely lacked for so long and to “speed up the transformation of Sony that was started four years ago,” which has all but stalled, if the company’s recent financial performance is any indication. “Have I broken down all the silo walls? No,” Stringer told the New York Times. “Are they very strong and very thick? Yes. But we’ve broken down a lot of them. Our goal is to continue to do that. We have two distinct challenges facing us. The first is the global slowdown, which forces us to make significant adjustments. The second challenge is the evolution of our competitive environment. New competitors springing out everywhere.”
Comments
Is it just me or do all these Sony people look alike?
It would certainly be nice to see this company creating exciting new products again, you know, without malware and such.
Posted by Mac Beach at February 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm