While Sony’s legendary Kazuo Hirai stepped down from the position of CEO of the company last year, he still stayed on with the company in the role of a chairman. He will be relinquishing that as well come June, with Hirai announcing that he will be stepping down from the company entirely later this year, also giving up his seat on the board of directors. Nonetheless, Hirai is expected to stay on in an ad-hoc advisory capacity.

“Since passing the baton of CEO to [Kenchiro] Yoshida-san last April, as Chairman of Sony, I have had the opportunity to both ensure a smooth transition and provide support to Sony’s management,” Hirai said in a statement regarding his upcoming departure. “I am confident that everyone at Sony is fully aligned under Yoshida-san’s strong leadership, and are ready to build an even brighter future for Sony. As such, I have decided to depart from Sony, which has been a part of my life for the past 35 years. I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to all our employees and stakeholders who have supported me throughout this journey.”

Hirai has been part of the organization for 35 years, as he notes in his statement, and he has been involved in that period with multiple divisions of the company. He gained notoriety and fame when he joined PlayStation in 1995, rising to infamy for his stewardship of the brand (and some inadvertent memes along the way). Eventually, Hirai would ascend to CEO of Sony as a whole, and help reverse the company’s flagging fortunes, restoring it to profitability.

He has had an incredible, notable career. His rest will be well earned.

Sony announced recently that CEO Kazuo Hirai, who got his start in the PlayStation division, before ascending to take stewardship of the entire company, turning it around after almost a decade of dismal losses, and bringing it back to profitability, will be retiring this April. This marks the end of his long tenure at the company, and the end of an era.

However, that last bit may not be right, strictly speaking- speaking at Sony’s investor meeting, Hirai explained that the board has asked him to stay on in an advisory role to help his successor find his footing, and that is something he has agreed to. Hirai has also confirmed that he will especially probably be able to advise the gaming and entertainment division.

Given that he started his career at, and is as loved as he is because of, PlayStation, this seems oddly fitting in a lot of ways.

Sony Interactive Entertainment president Andrew House has stepped down from his current role and will be replaced by deputy president John Kodera. Effective immediately, Kodera will function as the president and chief executive officer of the company. House will still remain at SIE till the end of the year but will eventually transition into a director/chairman role.

Andrew House issued a statement on his departure from the role of president, stating that, “I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve built with PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment: entertaining millions globally with the best in games and creating a fully fledged digital entertainment company.

“PlayStation has been a huge part of my life for more than 20 years but with the business having achieved record-breaking success, now seemed to be the right time for me to pursue new challenges. I shall always treasure the friendships and people that have made SIE such a wonderful place to work. I’m also grateful to PlayStation fans and gamers around the world for their loyalty and support. John and the team at SIE are world-class and I know the future of PlayStation is very bright.”

House has been working with Sony for quite a long time, first joining the company in the corporate communications department in 1990 before moving to the marketing and communications team for SCE in 1995. He would become president in 2011 and essentially oversaw the launch of the PlayStation 4 and other devices since then including PlayStation VR and the PS4 Pro.

Former president Kaz Hirai, who still works as Sony global CEO, also issued a statement on House stepping down from his current role. He said that he was “extremely grateful to Andy for the great contribution he has made to evolving the PlayStation business, and firmly positioning it as one of the drivers of our future growth.”

We may largely care about Sony as the makers of PlayStation, but remember, they are a massive multimedia multinational multibillion conglomerate still, and still one of the world’s leading electronics companies. At CES, Sony had a keynote address worthy of all of that, and during that keynote address, Sony’s legendary Kaz Hirai took the stage to deliver a rousing speech, a lot of which focused on the PlayStation 4.

“First, the success of PlayStation 4 has enabled a broadening world of PlayStation. The PS4 Platforms has been providing more immersive games than ever before, and allows PlayStation fans to enjoy a wide variety of game content,” he started off.

“And with acclaimed blockbuster titles, as well as great network services including socially connected experiences, PlayStation 4 sold 4.1 million units during this Holiday season, and the total sell-through has now reached more than 18.5 million units since its launch. I’m liking those numbers!

“I’d say, this is a remarkable success for this next generation console, and, actually, this is exceeding the rate of adoption of any other PlayStation Platform.

“And PlayStation Plus also continues to grow, offering a subscription service for content and services for the platform, and reached 10.9 million subscribers.

“Network services include video unlimited, music unlimited, as well as new initiatives such as PlayStation Now, as you know a streaming game service on supported devices covering most PlayStation platforms, and of course Sony devices such as the Bravia TV.

“And, with the arrival of PlayStation Vue, that I talked about earlier, we now offer a comprehensive product platform with unparalleled entertainment experiences.

“PlayStation 4 continues to attract our valued users while providing the best place to play, and together with our third party developers and publishers, including a remarkable group of independent game developers, we will continue to provide the best entertainment available, while delivering Sony signature “WOW” to our valued customers,” he said.

Well, so far, Sony has done a remarkable job in selling PS4s- now let’s just hope they do an equally good job in following up on their word and delivering some good entertainment.

Thanks, DualShockers.

Sony boss Kaz Hirai recently revealed that half of all PlayStation 4 users worldwide are registered to PlayStation Plus (with reportedly more than 7 million consoles having been sold worldwide since the console’s launch). Total number of active PSN and SEN users is also apparently more than 52 million users worldwide.

Hirai also spoke about the $1.2 billion that Sony posted recently and stated that, “As explained at last week’s earnings announcement, we recorded a substantial net loss for the 2013 fiscal year. Looking to fiscal 2014, due to the delayed recovery of our electronics business, and the continuation of our comprehensive restructuring program, we are again anticipating a net loss, of 50 billion yen.

“When I was appointed president, I made revitalizing the electronics business my highest priority, and we have since executed many initiatives. Yet, while the Entertainment and Financial Services businesses posted results that met or exceeded our projections last year, I am extremely disappointed that we have not been able to complete our electronics turnaround.

“In particular the fact that we have recorded a net loss for two successive years is something I take very seriously, and being unable to meet the expectations our stakeholders is something I deeply regret.”

Nonetheless, the PlayStation 4 is charting greater sales numbers than the Xbox One with E3 2014 right around the corner. Stay tuned for more information as the expo arrives.

(Source)

After having posted their fourth loss in five years, Sony’s CEO Kaz Hirai and other executives will all be taking a pay cut to ensure the company’s funds don’t get tight- the Wall Street Journal reports that they will all be foregoing their bonuses, which in some cases amounts to a pay cut of as much as 50%. This is a similar move to the one employed by Nintendo, when its President Satoru Iwata and other executives all also took pay cuts- once, after the 3DS’s initial failure, and once earlier this year, after the Wii U’s failure to catch on in the market.

That might sound like a lot, but it’s a pittance compared to the overall losses that Sony is currently taking. It might be easy to forget that, given the insane success the PS4 has enjoyed, but Sony as a whole is still a lumbering, sinking corporation, and this year, Sony is anticipated to have lost $1.27 billion. 

Apart from these measures, Kaz Hirai has also instituted other measures to make sure Sony returns to profitability soon. Earlier this year, Sony sold off its Vaio division that makes laptops and computer hardware, and also discussed trimming down and spinning off the loss making TV division.

Whether all of these result in a positive financial outlook for Sony in the coming year remains to be seen.

It’s probably hard to tell with all the hype and hysteria surrounding the PlayStation 4, but as a company, Sony is still in deep, deep, deep trouble. Kaz Hirai recently took the reins of the troubled corporation with a commitment to turn the company around, and while he’s been doing a great job, the corporation is still precariously perched at the edge.

Looking to rehaul the administration, Sony is looking for at least one new director, and has approached a variety of Americans with experience in media, the New York Post reports.

This all comes in the pressure of investors calling for the Japanese giant to spin off the entertainment and media arm of its company- that would definitely include Sony Columbia Pictures and Sony Music, but whether it necessarily includes Sony Computer Entertainment (i.e. the arm of the company responsible for PlayStation) is yet unknown.

Stay tuned for more coverage.

It was announced earlier today that Kaz Hirai, the CEO of Sony will be delivering the keynote speech at the 2014 Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, or CES. CES is known as the largest interactive technology event in the world, where tech companies from around the globe come to show off their latest products.

Gary Shapiro, the President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association made a statement regarding Hirai’s election as keynote speaker on the CES website:

“Sony is a global brand synonymous with innovation and cutting-edge technology. There is no better way to kick off the world’s greatest innovation event than a keynote from one of the leading brands in the industry, bringing content and technology together to transform the way we live, work and play. We are thrilled to welcome Kaz Hirai to the 2014 CES keynote stage and are excited to hear his insight surrounding the next generation of consumer technology.”

Hirai was originally the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, but as of 2012 was made president and CEO of the entire company.

Source: CES

“The most important thing we need to make sure we do at least initially is that we all agree and understand that the PS4 is a great videogame console that appeals to video gamers. If we miss that part then I don’t think we get the initial establishment of the console. That formula has worked for us with all our consoles, including the PS3.”

While different apps and functions have been showcased, with more to follow in the coming months, Hirai stated that, “We take a look at this first and foremost as a game console. We don’t want to end there. That’s an area we will obviously reveal and talk about in the coming months.”

In an interview with BBC, he said, “I think that, you know, we still have a long ways to go before the actual product launch and there are going to be a lot of opportunities for us to talk about and provide additional details on the PlayStation 4.

“It wasn’t actually a launch, we just talked about the console and there will be more information to come, but it keeps people guessing and that’s a good thing. The number one thing I need to continue to push on is to really share and convey the sense of urgency to turn the company around especially the electronics business.”

It’s a good idea and generates lots of curiosity about the device. Hopefully the hype for a compelling looking PS4 won’t backfire on the company.

Source: GameChup