Kaz Hirai to replace Sir Howard Stringer as Sony CEO and president

In a move that everyone already anticipated, PlayStation head, Kaz Hirai, will become Sony head from April 1.

Sir Howard Stringer will remain with the company in the capacity of chairman of the board, while current chairman, Yotaro Kobayahi will retire.

Hirai has been largely credited with all the PlayStation fortunes and misfortunes over the years, but the new role should be a largely beneficial one for the company. Sony, as traditional as Japanese corporations come, can be expected to better react to a Japanese head.

A report over at gamesindustry.biz quotes Kaz Hirai as saying "the path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses - primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and games; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains."