Hard times are forcing Sony CEO Howard Stringer to give up his Mr. Nice Guy act. The Welsh-born American executive, who has used charm and wit to sell the rank and file on a modest reform agenda, is suddenly ramming through more drastic measures. That’s because evaporating consumer demand and a sharp surge in the yen have left the Japanese tech giant no better off than it was when Stringer started three and a half years ago.
The company’s future depends on whether Stringer can deliver. On Jan. 22, Sony issued its second profit warning in three months, saying it now forecasts a $2.9 billion annual operating loss — its first in 14 years — instead of $2.2 billion in profits. Sales are predicted to fall 13 percent, to $86 billion, rather than gain 1.4 percent, as had been projected.
Stringer blamed a “significant portion” of the expected losses on factors beyond Sony’s control. The yen’s rise has sharply eroded overseas earnings for many of Japan’s top exporters, such as Toyota, Honda, Panasonic, and Sharp. It’s especially painful for Sony because the company earns 80 percent of revenues in overseas markets. Plunging stocks also have hammered the company’s insurance and banking unit, which has billions invested worldwide.
Sony’s Software Weakness
Stringer admitted that the reforms he has pushed through since mid-2005 hadn’t gone far enough. The company still suffers from bloated costs, an inefficient supply chain, and poisonous rivalries among divisions, he said. And while Sony had an “unbeatable” combination of top-notch consumer electronics, blockbuster movies, and TV programs and music, it hasn’t fused them all into a winning whole. The reason: Sony’s weakness in creating software to deliver online services. “There is still too much old Sony and not enough new, which at times means we are fighting our competitive wars at a…