Kazuo Hirai: Sony President

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PlayStationboss Kazuo Hirai will be taking over as president of Sony come April 1st, replacing HowardStringer, who was the first non-Japanese head of Sony. Our sources are telling us theboard knew he wasn’t Japanese when they hired him, so we’re guessinghe’s finding the door over Sony’s various failing businesses and grimprospects.Come April Fools' Day, Hirai will inherit a rather beleaguered Sonythat's losing ground on all fronts. Recent quarterly results showed that its sales of digitalcameras are down 20%, due mostly to consumers using its phones to take photos.Considering that you're more likely to see a lesbian unicorn than a Sony Ericsson mobilephone in the wild, that doesn't bode well for Sony’s photographic prospects.

The Playstation brand also ain't what it used to be, thanksmostly to the hacking scandal that left many PS3 owners net-gameless for almost a month.But the biggest shock to come out of the hacking affair was finding out that the companyhad an entertainment service called Qriocity, an abomination of a name if ever there wasone. It has since grown a brain and renamed it Sony Entertainment Network. As for itspopularity, let’s just say it ain’t no iTunes.

Its TV business shows no signs of fending off Samsung, who recently revealedit is selling two TVs a second. Call me foolish, but Sony’s selling off half of itsstake in a joint TV venture with Samsung seems like an admission of defeat. But, hey --it’s backing Google TV, so everything’s going to work out justfine.

 Hopefully Hirai can get Sony back on track. It’s started to looksad in Sonyland. Continue Reading

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