Report: Hirai in hot-seat for Sony Corp president role

We have literally touched this man. That photo didn't take itself, you know.

Bloomberg, citing "people familiar with the matter", has said that SCE head Kaz Harai "may be considered" to replace Howard String as the president of Sony Corp.

Hiroshi Yoshioka, one of the company's other leading lights and currently "Executive Deputy President, Officer in charge of Consumer Products, Professional Solutions, and Devices businesses", is also in line for the job, the article says.

Stringer, who's been in the top job since April 2009, is now 69 years old and is apparently seeking a right-hand man to lighten the load as Sony settles into long-term plans. He's stay on as chairman.

“Stringer should be credited for carrying out structural reforms to stop the company from bleeding,” said Kohi Toda, Tokyo-based chief fund manager at Resona Bank.

“Nevertheless, Stringer hasn’t managed to steer the company to growth. His accomplishment was rather earning time and energy for Sony to get ready for the next growth.”

Hirai started his career at a joint venture between Sony and CBS, now called Sony Music Entertainment Inc., in 1984. He was named president of Sony’s US game unit in 1999. The executive, fluent in Japanese and English, was brought up in the US and Japan.

Yoshioka, the oldest of the “musketeers” at 58, oversees a $50 billion consumer products group that includes TVs, stereos, DVD and Blu-ray players and camcorders. Batteries and semiconductors are also handled at his group.

Hit the link for the full thing. The question you should be thinking about, obviously, is who replaces Kaz if he goes ballistic with Big Howard?