One of the by-products of the Sony reshuffle (below) is that Ken Kutaragi, the "father of the PlayStation", lost his seat on the Sony board. This is a bit of a shocker because Sony has been kept afloat mainly by the PlayStation's huge success, and because Kutaragi's strong opinions have given him a high profile in the press. Indeed, as this Reuters story notes, he was "once regarded as certain to succeed current CEO Nobuyuki Idei", not be upstaged by Sir Howard Stringer.
Kutaragi will continue as chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment: I can't imagine him quitting with the PS3 on the way.
I've criticised Kutaragi (eg below) for over-promising and under-delivering, and pointed out that he's probably as responsible as other Sony executives for the company's failure to get its numerous divisions working together. For example, the people in Sony's VAIO business must wince every time he tries to put the boot into the PC industry.
It was therefore somewhat amusing to read Idei's comment on why Ryoji Chubachi got the No 2 job at Sony, ahead of Kuturagi.
"I cannot compare them, but Mr Chubachi is a good listener... He is a man who listens to various people's opinions carefully and makes the right decision at the right time," said Idei.
