Sony has signalled the likely identity of its new leader after promoting one of its four division heads into the new role of executive deputy president.
The move, which only partially anoints Kazuo Hirai as heir, suggests that Sir Howard Stringer may spend at least two more years as Sony’s first non-Japanese president — a status that has won him investor support and the grudging respect of Tokyo’s often xenophobic business press.
The promotion places Mr Hirai in charge of Sony’s two biggest divisions: the sprawling consumer electronics empire and the games unit that is centred on the PlayStation3 console.
Having already brought the PS3 to the point where hardware and software are profitable, Mr Hirai faces the challenge of making Sony’s heavy investment in 3-D television pay off. The job is expected to involve strengthening the troubled marriage of hardware and content — a union envisioned by Sony’s founder Akio Morita and tended with varying degrees of success by a procession of chief executives.
The appointment confirms, at least superficially, speculation that Mr Hirai is now front-runner to assume the presidency when Sir Howard, 69, steps down.
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Significantly, however, Mr Hirai’s ascendancy stopped short of his taking any of the three positions — chairman, president and chief executive — occupied by Sir Howard. Those roles were united over a year ago in an effort to give Sir Howard the clout he needed to propel Sony through its long overdue streamlining.
Insiders said that Sony’s board had voted unanimously to keep Welsh-born Sir Howard in all three positions, a decision seen as a clear hint that the succession question has not yet been finally resolved.
Sir Howard told The Times yesterday that the promotion was part of a “step progression” towards greater responsibility. He credited Mr Hirai with the successful integration of PlayStation3, saying: “The PS3 used to be an island and it is now firmly on the mainland, and the games division is no longer a cousin but a central part of the family.”
The Sony chief added that Mr Hirai’s elevation was partly linked to the rise of the PS3 within the company and its role as a “global profit centre” as customers use it to access online games, music, movies and other Sony content.
Analysts have said that were Mr Hirai the obvious candidate to succeed, his promotion would have come sooner and in a more clear-cut fashion.
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Internal criticism of Mr Hirai has focused on his lack of “superstar” status: although the 50-year-old is a safe pair of hands who straddles the cultural and linguistic gulf within Sony, he is not yet seen as a “visionary”.