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Sony has chosen long-serving finance head Hiroki Totoki as its next chief executive as the Japanese technology giant overhauls its leadership while steering a multibillion-dollar push into producing more original content.
The company, which installed new heads of key divisions, including its PlayStation business, is in the middle of a “creation shift” that it hopes will win it a greater share of the $3tn entertainment industry.
Totoki will take over from Kenichiro Yoshida in April, in a well-flagged succession that has seen the new chief executive assume a series of high-profile roles in recent years, including chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Yoshida, who has held the CEO post since 2018, will remain as chair, Sony said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company’s share price has risen more than 22 per cent in the past 12 months and was up another 3.4 per cent by midday in Tokyo after Totoki’s promotion was announced.
“Totoki-san has been a key partner of Yoshida-san for more than two decades and a key part of Sony’s successful turnaround and shift deeper into entertainment,” said Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal.
“That said, Yoshida-san could lean on Totoki-san to execute his plans and the new CEO is going to need to find someone who can fill that role for him too,” he added. “So there are some big shoes to fill, both in becoming CEO and for his own replacement.”
Under Yoshida, the group has spent $10bn over the past six years to build its vast portfolio of games, films and music — the three business segments that account for 60 per cent of its annual revenue.
It has also scored some big hits with titles such as The Last of Us, which was converted from a PlayStation game into a hugely popular television series, and Uncharted, another video game adaptation for cinema.
With Totoki stepping up, the company appointed its first female chief financial officer, Lin Tao, while Shinji Sashida was appointed as head of its imaging and sensors division.
Hideaki Nishino was named as the new head of its core games business, which includes its PlayStation operations, after the departure of Jim Ryan last year. Hermen Hulst will run the company’s games studio business.
“Both have serious issues to address with PS5 having sold less than PS4, and the studios team unable to derive benefits from acquisitions such as Bungy, or deliver successful live service titles,” said Gareth Sutcliffe, head of gaming at research firm Enders Analysis
“One of the remarkable aspects of PlayStation’s growing dominance . . . is that the business hasn’t been run particularly efficiently in recent years,” Robin Zhu, analyst at Bernstein, said in a recent note to clients.
“With new leadership in place, and broader Sony in efficiency mode, we expect lower ‘M&A costs’ . . . and cost reduction elsewhere — to be areas where PlayStation can under-promise and over-deliver,” he added.
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