Sony CFO to lead entertainment-electronic giant as president

TOKYO (AP) – Sony on Thursday hired a veteran executive as its chairman to lead the Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate through a time of transition.

Sony Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki will become president and COO, Sony Corp said in a statement.

Kenichiro Yoshida remains president and chief executive officer of the Tokyo-based maker of PlayStation game machines, BRAVIA TVs and Spider-Man movies.

Sony was expected to report a decline in earnings in its corporate results update later in the day.

Yoshida proposed executive changes last year to strengthen management across Sony’s diverse operations. It won unanimous board approval on Thursday.

For decades synonymous with Japan’s technological prowess, Sony introduced mobile entertainment to the world four decades ago with the music-on-the-move Walkman. In recent years it has been criticized as struggling to coordinate its vast operations spanning video games and music to digital cameras and robot dogs.

Totoki said that he would try to complete the challenge.

“I want to create a positive spiral that starts with customers choosing Sony, which then energizes our workforce, enables us to attract more new talent, increases our corporate value, and ultimately enables us to give back to the society,” he said.

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