Sony Realigns U.S. Structure In Electronics

PARK RIDGE, N.J. – Sony Electronics (SEL), whose parent company Sony Corp. recently announced a corporate restructuring to put all of its electronics operations under one roof (TWICE, April 16, p. 1), has reorganized its U.S. operations based here.

Worthy of note in all the changes are two: Tony Piazza, a longtime Sony exec who headed its retail consumer electronics sales effort under several titles over the years, is now president of the Corporate & Professional Sales Company; and the Sony Consumer Electronics Group is no more.

In an organizational fact sheet that Sony sent TWICE, Sony said the changes are "designed to encourage fast action so that management can quickly and efficiently execute strategies" in the marketplace.

SEL now consists of three product companies and four marketing divisions that are horizontally supported by three sales channel companies and a newly-formed corporate marketing organization. The SEL management team still consists of the following: Howard Stringer, chairman & CEO; Fujio Nishida, president and COO; Nobuyuki Oneda, deputy president and chief financial officer; and Ed Grebow, deputy president.

The American Electronics Management Committee (AEMC), which is chaired by Nishida, is the oversight body for all of Sony's electronics operations as well as other research and engineering units.

The three product companies are organized as follows:

• Visual Network Products – Formerly the Home Network Products Company, its products consist of HDTVs, WEGA FD Trinitron TVs, rear projection TVs, set-top boxes, satellite receivers and digital network recorders. Mike Vitelli, who was president of the old Consumer Electronics Group, is president.
• Core Technology Solutions – Formerly the Media & Component Solutions Company, has blank media products, data storage devices, semiconductors, computer displays and the e Villa network entertainment center in its stable. Mike Uchida, president of the old Media & Component Solutions Company, is president.
• Broadcast & Professional – This company continues under its old name, selling broadcasting, media and other related products. Ed Grebow continues as president.

The four marketing divisions are organized as follows:

• Personal Mobile Products – Products here include Walkman personal stereos, digital music players, cordless phones, car stereo and MiniDisc. The senior VP heading the division is Robert Ashcroft, former president of the e-Solutions Company.
• Home Entertainment Products – DVD, home entertainment systems, Super Audio CD players, VCR and hifi components are part of this division. Its senior VP is Tim Baxter, who previously headed the Home Audio Product Marketing.
• Digital Imaging Products – This division consists of camcorders, digital still cameras and the ImageStation online digital photography service. Headed by Tak Kondo, senior VP, he had the same responsibilities when these products were part of the Personal Network Solutions Group.
• Information Technology Products – The VAIO PCs, CLIE handheld devices and digital photo home printers used to be part of the old Personal Network Solutions Group. Continuing as the executive in charge of these products is Mark Viken, senior VP.

As part of the new marketing structure, a newly-formed Corporate Marketing Organization has been established to develop customer-focused programs for all SEL companies and divisions. Vic Pacor, who was president of the Home Network Products Company, is now senior VP in charge of this organziation.

In sales, as reported earlier Tony Piazza is now president of the Corporate & Professional Sales Company, formerly the Business Solutions Company. Replacing Piazza as head of retail sales is Ron Boire, who is now president of the Consumer Sales Company. Boire was previously the head of the Personal & Mobile Products Company, which is now a division.

And with the e-Solutions Company, which is SEL's e-commerce site found at www.sonystyle.com, Emily Susskind who has had several executive positions with SEL and Sony Corporation of America, is CEO. Mike Fasulo, who headed its Media Solutions unit, is president of e-Solutions.