Sony more than doubles net-loss forecast

The firm said it was expecting a net loss of 220 billion yen (US$2.9 billion) for the year to March, up from 90 billion yen previously, in what will be its fourth consecutive year in the red.

Sony blamed difficult trading conditions in developed-country markets, the impact of severe flooding in Thailand, and the high yen among the causes of the revision.

Stringer's tenure has seen Sony assailed on multiple fronts, with mobile phones challenging its key games division — which suffered an embarrassing hacking scandal — huge losses in the firm's television business, and piracy threatening its music and film assets.

Last year, the Tokyo-based maker of PlayStation consoles and Bravia televisions lost 259.6 billion yen.

Sony announced Wednesday that Stringer would be stepping aside as president and CEO, to be replaced by his protege Kazuo Hirai, who at 51 becomes one of the youngest CEOs of a Nikkei 225 company.

Stringer, a Welsh-born American who became the firm's first foreign head when he took over in 2005, said that Sony's travails were the result of external events, among them Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March last year.

“There is no question 2011 was one of the most trying periods in Sony history. Certainly mine,” he told reporters in Tokyo.

Sitting alongside Stringer, Hirai — reportedly a former translator for bands including Beastie Boys and Journey — said the Japanese electronics industry was “in crisis.”

“I have a sense of urgency as the environment in which we operate is extremely tough,” he said, adding nothing would be ruled out in his efforts to reform the company, including withdrawing from some businesses.

“This may come with painful decisions and choices,” he said.

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