[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Kazuo Hirai has been appointed as Sony president and CEO, effective April 1, 2012. Sir Howard Stringer, currently chairman, CEO and president, will become chairman of the board of directors in June, 2012.

Mr. Stringer will continue as chairman of Sony until his ascension to the board chairmanship, which will become effective upon board approval following the annual meeting of shareholders in June, when the current chairman, Yotaro Kobayashi, will retire. Mr. Hirai is also expected to be appointed to the board at the June shareholders meeting.

Kazuo Hirai: 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.

The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses – primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and game; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains.