Sony Chairman Howard Stringer announced he will retire as non-executive chairman of Sony in June while the company struggles to match competitors in the market.
Howard Stringer became the first non-Japanese to lead the Japanese electronics giant Sony when he was elected Chairman and CEO of the company in June 2005. The Welsh-born businessman saw the company through some tough times before he finally decided to step down as chief executive February last year to become the non-executive chairman. Kazuo Hirai took over as Chief Executive officer.
In a speech last week at the Japan Society in New York, Stringer announced he will be retiring from Sony for good this June.
"A new world is opening up for me... one that allows me to complete my plan to retire from Sony, which I expect to do at the conclusion of my term later this year," Stringer said in the speech. "That will allow me to move forward with new opportunities I've been presented with lately."
During a telephonic interview March 9, Shiro Kambe, a Tokyo-based Sony spokesman said that Stringer had already informed Hirai about his decision to leave the company last year. The spokesman revealed the company will decide on a replacement for Stringer and the decision will be revealed after the June shareholder meeting.
"Howard's achievements as CEO of Sony are innumerable; from breaking down silos and driving 'Sony United,' to fundamentally realigning the focus of Sony's product development," Hirai said in a statement.
Sony posted a record 457 billion-yen ($4.8 billion) loss in the 12 months ended March 2012. Yasuo Nakane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG said considering this loss, Stringer's retirement should have come at an earlier time. Now, with him leaving, Sony has completed the transition to a new management team, which could probably be good for the company.
