Sony's Hirai to extend PlayStation strategy
TOKYO, (Reuters) - Incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to re-shape Sony Corp by linking hardware and software through online networks -- a
model he used at its Playstation unit -- dismissing any suggestion the battered brand would revert to a gadget-centered strategy under his management. In the meantime, he said, he would focus on paring costs at
its TV unit and look to squeeze expenses elsewhere to return Sony to profit.
The Sony Computer Entertainment model “is a big ger concept we can grow into a bigger space,” Hirai, 51, said in a group interview at the company's Tokyo headquarters. “Hardware drives software and software drives hardware,” he added, referring to online sales of games and other content Playstation owners.
Hirai oversaw the phenomenal rise of the Playstation gaming
system in the United States and since last March headed Sony's consumer products and services business.
“They're finding themselves cornered right now,” said Andrew Millroy, Singapore-based vice president of Asia Pacific ICT for Frost & Sullivan. “A company that was once ahead of its peers is finding that gaming is the only area where they're an innovative player.”
Hirai didn't say what impact the wider application of his
strategy would have on Sony, which unlike its consumer electronics rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, owns significant content in movies, music and games software.
It could mean he wants to build a unified network to connect multiple platforms rather than separate ones incorporating only games, music or movies, an analyst in Tokyo said, declining to be identified because he isn't authorized to talk to the media.
Once Sony goes beyond the Playstation into the realm of Android and Windows operating systems, it is going to face stiff competition, he added.
“Sony has historically done a lousy job of leveraging its
broader assets outside of the Playstation and other gaming assets,” said Danielle Levitas, group vice president of consumer, PCS, broadband and new media at IDC.