Sony Mobile Communications, the business unit responsible for Sony’s Xperia smartphones and tablets, will soon have a new chief. Sony announced yesterday that Hiroki Totoki will take on the helm of the division and become its next President and CEO. The appointment will take effect on November 16.
Totoki will replace Kunimasa Suzuki who will become Executive Vice President, Sony Entertainment Inc.
Sony had originally hoped to ship 50 million smartphones during its fiscal year but cut that estimate to 43 million this past summer. Sadly, while its Xperia smartphones and tablets have generally received positive reviews, this has not translated into the sales the company was hoping for. Despite increasing both its spending on marketing and R&D efforts, it cut that number further today as it announced its latest financial results. Its latest forecast stands at 41 million.It attributes this latest decline “to an expected decrease in the annual unit sales of smartphones mainly in China.”
With the company struggling as it has to make headway in the competitive mobile device market, leadership changes were bound to happen. Whether Totoki will be able to turn things around remains to be seen and what surprises he has up his sleeves to do so.
Source : Sony