I was away on a press trip last Friday so missed this telling corporate reshuffle at Sony Computer Entertainment. Ken 'Father of PlayStation' Kutaragi has been made chairman and group CEO of the company but is being moved away from the day-to-day running of the PlayStation empire. That hands-on role will now be taken by Kazuo Hirai who previously ran Sony Computer Entertainment America.
According to the official release, "Ken Kutaragi will continue to oversee the entire SCE Group as chief executive officer, and will fully exercise his power to reinforce and further accelerate the development of the PlayStation business". The suggestion is, he will be in charge of the longterm strategic planning (hmm, PlayStation 4? Not out til 2010 apparently...), while Hirai-san will concentrate on the minutae of getting the darn PS3 units into the hands of gamers.
Analysts are divided over the nature of this 'promotion'. Some see it as the sort of respectful and subtle form of admonishment common in Japanese business - the PS3 roll-out has hardly been a smooth process after all. However, there are theories that Kutaragi is being prepared for a much more significant role within Sony. Speaking to the New York Times, regularly quoted industry analyst, Michael Pachter, says that the move is "either a Machiavellian scheme to get rid of Kutaragi or they're grooming him to replace Sir Howard [Stringer]". "I think it's the latter," he then concludes.
