Kutaragi staying on at Sony
Calling himself "a leader," the passed-over PlayStation boss pledges continued allegiance to Sony.
Earlier this month, news out of Sony HQ in Japan saw Sony Computer Entertainment head Ken Kutaragi demoted from his position as executive deputy president. He was also discharged from his position as head of Sony's home electronics and semiconductor divisions.
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For the first time since his demotion, the force behind Sony's gaming division spoke out about the changes at Sony. In an interview with the magazine Nikkei Business, Kutaragi revealed that the decisions surrounding his demotions were made without his knowledge--he said he was informed only the day before the public announcement.
Despite the downgrade, he sees the changes as being for the good of Sony.
"It's a major reshuffle, with seven out of eight executives resigning [from Sony's board], including myself. It's an intense and drastic change. But it feels good to have a whole group of executives resigning. Other companies can't do anything like this," Kutaragi said.
Commenting on Sony's new CEO, Howard Stringer (who replaces the outgoing Nobuyuki Idei), Kutaragi said, "I've known Howard since the launch of Sony Computer Entertainment; we eat together during our breaks whenever we meet. I was wondering who was going to become the next CEO, but I'm really glad that it's him. He works very hard. This will allow employees to focus on their jobs [without any worries]."
Industry watchers were stunned by Kutaragi's demotion, since he had long been considered a likely candidate to be Sony's next president. That role, however, was taken by Sony executive deputy president Ryoji Chubachi, who also took over Kutaragi's position as head of the semiconductor division.
Current CEO Nobuyuki Idei commented to the press during the announcements that Chubachi was chosen as the next president because "he is a good listener, and he can make appropriate decisions at appropriate times...and he's good at motivating young workers."
Commenting on Idei's statement, Kutaragi said, "One employee who overheard Idei-san at the press conference came to me saying that [Idei's comments] imply I'm a 'bad listener.' But I was able to laugh that off. It seems that people within SCE were worrying that I would leave [Sony and SCE]. When it was decided that I would stay, people said they were glad. And I'm honestly thankful about that."
Kutaragi went on to confirm that he has no current plans to leave Sony, especially since he wants to continue working on the Cell chip project, which is close to completion.
"We're finally going to launch it, after more than four years of major development. I have the responsibility [of following up on the Cell launch], and I also have dreams. First, it will be placed in game consoles. Then, in the near future, I want to use it in TVs and home servers. There's much I want to do. I have been leading SCE [up until now], and I will continue to be its leader," said Kutaragi. "I will remain at Sony. I'm still young. It's my goal to keep moving forward."
