Sony's Hirai would promote as Stringer stays

(Update: Sony response) Sony was claimed to be promoting Executive Deputy President Kaz Hirai to full President in a sign of a possible succession plan. Japan's Nikkei said, without claiming sources, that the step up would happen in April. CEO Sir Howard Stringer would still stay as CEO and board chairman.

The promotion would come to help Hirai conduct an overhaul of the company's business structure and make it profitable, according to the tip. Sony hadn't commented on the accuracy of the claim.

Hirai would take on control at a time when the company was seeing a string of losses. The slump in the TV market, among other factors, has dragged Sony down. Hirai is best known for having led SCEA, the group that oversees the PlayStation, and kept it profitable event at times when the rest of the company was struggling.

A promotion may be a sign of an eventual, though not necessarily imminent, replacement of Stringer with Hirai. Companies which have both a CEO and a general President often consider the President position a form of grooming for the top spot. Along with the difficulty he has had in turning Sony around, Stringer at 68 may be looking towards retirement.

Update: Sony has said that there aren't any current plans to promote Hirai to a general President, although the statement didn't preclude an eventual promotion or succession later.

By Electronista Staff