Kazuo Hirai to become Sony President/CEO April 1, 2012

Alright, alright. I know we have been reporting on this for a while now, but Sony confirmed today via press release that Kazuo Hirai will become the President and CEO of the company starting April 1, 2012. The current CEO and President, Sir Howard Stringer will be Chairman of the Board of Directors and he will start his job in June 2012.

Although things have been tough for Sony in recent years, (remember the PSP Go) Hirai issued a statement stating if Stringer wouldn't have been at the helm, it would have been even worse. Hirai simply stated, "As challenging as times are for Sony now, were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position. I am grateful to Sir Howard and to the Board for their confidence in me, and I look forward to working with everyone at Sony more closely than ever before to build a strong future for our customers, shareholders, partners and employees."

Among other things, Hirai also said his main focus is to grow in the electronic business and to continue to engage worldwide customers in "new and exciting ways." This seems to be a much-needed change in management and will hopefully get Sony on the right track as the company to beat in the electronics business. [Sony]