In a move that was much anticipated over the past few weeks in the tech industry, Sony (NYSE:SNE) has finally announced the appointment of Kazuo Hirai as president and CEO of the company. He replaces the outgoing CEO Howard Stringer, will continue as chairman until he moves on to become chairman of the board.
It was just a few weeks ago that rumors of this appointment were swirling, prompting a company spokesperson to deny that the move had been made at that time.
Hirai graduates from heading up the consumer products and services group, where he found himself becoming the public face of Sony’s disastrous PlayStation Network security breach in 2011. Sony’s current board chairman, Yotaro Kobayashi, elaborated on today’s announcement:
We agree with Sir Howard that Kazuo Hirai is the right man at the right time to lead Sony. He has a unique capacity to inspire people, to build teams, to make the tough decisions, and to think with clarity and foresight about the challenges we face and how to surmount them.
As for Sony in the near future, Hirai recently commented to The Wall Street Journal that the company would not be rolling out any new console (read PS4) at the upcoming E3 conference.