﻿ Sony CEO: We're not perfect, but we are on the right track | ZDNet



sony ceo long way to go getting better recovery

Sony's chief executive Kazuo Hirai says that the recovery of the firm isn't complete, but the company is heading in the right direction.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Associated Press reports that Hirai believes the Japanese company is now more "nimble and focused" due to his 9-month stint as CEO, and is now on the right track towards profitability.

Hirai openly admitted that Sony fell far behind rival electronics firms including Apple and Samsung, becoming so bogged down in bureaucracy that the ailing electronics maker's research and development was impacted, which also affected profitability.

The CEO said that he is personally involved in product development to make sure that good ideas are not squashed or held behind red tape in the future. When you consider the death-throes of its ever-unprofitable television sector, perhaps this kind of push is what the firm needs.

"I'm shepherding several of those projects personally myself to make sure that it doesn't get held up in the bureaucracy, or it doesn't suddenly fade away in the approval process," he told reporters at Sony's Tokyo headquarters.

The 52-year old also said that the company has to be "a lot faster in decision making and execution" and even though Sony is far from perfect, he thinks the Japanese firm has "improved significantly" and has "a lot of room to grow."

Sony has had to try and stay afloat amidst four years of reported losses and stiff competition from other firms, especially within the television and smartphone sectors. In Q2, Sony reported earnings which were less bleak than expected, sales increased by 1.9 percent year-on-year but still losing $198 million on revenue of $20.5 billion. These financial results were certainly better than a loss of $312 million in the first quarter, but the company has a long way to go before maintaining a healthy profit.

"It's going to be hard for Sony to catch up," Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Securities Co. in Tokyo told Bloomberg. "Still, the market is expected to continue growing, and that will probably enable Sony to boost sales."

Topic: Tech Industry



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  • Forgetting Existing Consumer Base!

    Kazuo Hirai amazes me by not understanding his LARGEST contributor to Sony's poor performance has to do with the deplorable and discusting nature Sony treats its existing consumer base with. I myself have ended up being elevated to their 'special' support team called "Sony Listens" (mainly for pay-per-incedence and the rich), as their regular customer support avenues did everything from calling me a liar to running me around for four hours from department to depratment when the Sony Listens team had put notes into my account that should have been read at the first of the call; which would have put me with the ONLY department in Sony that understands loyalty to its existing consumers.

    Their support forum is FILLED with users having this same experience and it keep getting worse as time goes on, even though I asked my Sony Listens representative to have the problem addressed over a year ago.

    As well, Sony has developed a feature called 'Simulview'. Currently they have this ability with a 24 inch Bravia (Playstation brnaded TV) and on their new 84inch 4K Bravia. The problem here is that ALL OVER THE INTERNET, users are getting this feature to work but have to 'cheat' a little bit since Sony refuses to update any other Bravia EDID codes in consoles and games that do Simulview. This, and an update for the Bravia IR output, is literally the ONLY THING preventing users like me from being able to utilze Simulview.

    As a United States Marine, Im tired of this crap. Companies used to make money by both new technology AND rewarding its existing consumer base. This builds more than just a dollar in their pocket but built something that used to be called 'GOOD FAITH' in the brand, such as the Sony brand. Now its as though companies have forgotten that its existing consumer base WILL control what happens to them tomorrow.

    Sony, you can build the newest, coolest thing; however if you continue this COMPLETE MIS-TREATMENT of your existing consumer base you can count on consumer faith being spread by word of mouth and social media... and in your case, its lower than my faith in the US Congress acting like adults. At this time I simply beleive you are trying to position yourself for a buyout... which this post (and two others) makes illegal now.

    Kazuo-san, please understand that this is NOT something far fetched buut a fact and requirement for continued success. Kazuo-san, I would like to stress that my loyalty in Sony is still alive, but slowly bleeding out through this consistent mis-treatment of your existing consumer base. If your not aware that Simulview IS being acheived on Bravia's (one uses it completly ONLY faking the IR signal with his Sony tablet) than start reading through my posts. Check your Sony Support forum. Or just go here and see the proof that is very upsetting to ANY existing Bravia owner:


    Thats all... now the ball is COMPLETLY in their court. I expect Kazuo Hirai to do the right thing here, but Im already preparing to sell off my Bravia to go with the second best AV display; made by LG.
    Double Aught Code
    • Couldn't agree more.

      Sony seems to think their customers are ATMs, not actual customers.

      Their laptop quality has gotten progressively worse and bloatware levels have gotten ever higher, while still charging premium prices.

      The PS3 is a whole issue unto itself, but the highlights of which being removing the ability to install Linux and be backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 games.

      They've blazed the trail for the most intrusive DRM in the industry. (the rookit fiasco comes to mind, as does the whole SonicStage mess).

      The display quality of their TVs has been slipping below competitors costing significantly less.

      Their phones are nice, but again, not a standout against Samsung or HTC.

      They demonstrated gross negligence with their handling of personal data, and attempted to pay the debt in the form of...coupons.

      Literally all Sony has left is their movie studio, their brand inertia, and their higher-than-everyone-else price tags. Ditch the DRM obsession, get some good solid customer service reps back on the other end of the phone, get back on the quality and durability horse, and start getting Sony back to being known for "the highest possible quality at the highest price" instead of "a waste of money that doesn't play well with anything". It's not complicated, but as long as Sony is scared of pissing off their shareholders and finding their movies on The Pirate Bay more than the number of customers who prefer paying less for better products.

  • Sony has its problems, but...

    ...compared to the other Japanese electronics makers, not so much. Aside from high end cameras and hybrid auto engines, Japanese companies seem to be collectively losing their competitive edge relative to the rest of the world, especially in regards to South Korea.
    • This is normal

      When those japanese companies were "good", it was during the time they managed to copy valuable technology from the "west", such as Germany and the US. Today, the Korean copycats are much more aggressive and thus the japanese companies simply can't compete. The products of both are assembled somewhere else cheap -- so it all boils down who will steal more technology first.
  • They are simply behind the times

    They have not innovated and they are satisfied to come out with "less is more" products. No value, loss of brand leadership makes it difficult to consider Sony as a leader in the space.

    I noticed some progress on the mobile front. They are actually adding LTE, dual core and now quad core phones. Bravo- a huge step into the present times for Sony.