Sony appoints Hirai executive deputy president

Sony Corp said on Thursday it would appoint Kazuo Hirai executive deputy president, in a move that appears to make him a potential successor to CEO Howard Stringer. Welsh born Stringer, 69, who serves as the company's chairman, chief executive and president, will retain his current positions, a Sony spokesman said. Hirai, 50, currently runs the firm's network services and products division, which includes Sony's games division as well as newer ventures such as music and movie streaming services.

"In his current role, Mr. Hirai has successfully led the turnaround of the games business," Sony said in a statement. Last year Bloomberg news reported that Sony would look for a new president as a potential successor for Stringer, the first foreigner to run the Japanese consumer electronics company. Stringer took over as chairman and CEO in 2005, and added the role of president in 2009. He has overseen a round of cost-cutting, shutting factories and slashing jobs to return the company to profit. Sony also announced it would realign its business into two core groups, one covering consumer products and services, to be led by Hirai, and the other covering business to business activities, to be led by Hiroshi Yoshioka.