Sony has promoted its Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki to take on the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. There have been substantial shifts across the technology industry as the current fiscal year approaches its conclusion, with Sony facing challenges as well. Totoki will officially step into the role at Sony starting with the new fiscal year as April begins.
PlayStation has remained a significant strength for Sony, as sales of the new console continue to impress. Given the strength of PlayStation 5 sales, Sony has recently increased its expected operating profit to rise to 1.18 trillion yen from its 1.16 trillion forecast. However, that increase remains below estimates and is a decrease compared to last year. While not explicitly stated so, the challenges of 2022 and issues going into 2022 are believed to have led to the leadership shift.
Sony's current president Kenichiro Yoshida is also its CEO. Yoshida plans to remain CEO of Sony in the future, a role he's had since April 2018. Hiroki Totoki will leave his role as Chief Financial Officer behind to take on the positions of President and Chief Operating Officer, a step up the hierarchy with additional responsibilities.
Totoki, in introducing himself as Sony's next President, says that he's "obsessed with growth." He went on to say that his objective is to take the company purpose defined under Yoshida's leadership and make it a "concrete project." He also indirectly acknowledges that growth at Sony could stagnate or even negatively spiral, with his job being to return Sony to a positive spiral of growth. No specific steps toward this goal were detailed.
It should be noted that despite Totoki's seemingly strong sentiment regarding his obsession with growth, he is a long-term trusted Sony veteran. He started with the company in 1987 and has slowly climbed the ladder. He became an SVP, Corporate Executive for Sony Corporation in 2013, moving up from Sony Network Communications, and has made near-annual steps up the chain since. His recent steps up Sony corporate hierarchy could certainly be seen as rapid, but by no means is his promotion radical or surprising.
It's more than possible that Totoki becoming Sony President and COO will lead to other changes in the year ahead as the executive shifts company priorities. However, given the recent success of PlayStation, it seems like the division is least likely to be impacted. Stranger things have happened, though, and Totoki's plans could be different from PlayStation leadership's. Time will tell what happens next at Sony.