Park Ridge, N.J. – Hideki ‘Dick’ Komiyama has been named president and chief operating officer of Sony Electronics, effective tomorrow, succeeding Fujio Nishida, who has been named corporate senior vice president and electronics chief marketing officer of Sony Corporation.
Komiyama, a 36-year veteran of Sony currently serves as a corporate vice president, in addition to being the president of Sony Corporation’s Electronic Devices Marketing Group based in Tokyo. He has also served for many years in the U.S. in a variety of management positions, including the recent role as president of Sony Electronics’ Information Technology Company, where he spearheaded the integration of Sony’s VAIO PC sales, marketing, engineering and manufacturing operations. Subsequently, he was deputy president of Sony Electronics’ Consumer Electronics Group until 2001.
In a prepared statement, Sony said Komiyama returns to Sony Electronics as it sets its sights on leading the digital AV/IT marketplace into the broadband future. He is expected to champion the market for innovative electronics devices and services that will enhance both consumer lifestyles and create new business-to-business solutions.
In Nishida’s new role at corporate headquarters he will report directly to Kunitake Ando, the president and group COO of Sony Corporation. Nishida will also serve as deputy president of the Home Network Company and deputy president of the IT and Mobile Solutions Network Company. He is charged with developing global marketing strategies and customer-focused initiatives that will effectively be integrated throughout the Sony group.
He will also head up Sony’s worldwide Memory Stick business center, which aims to make this versatile flash media format a de-facto global standard among hundreds of manufacturers for digital imaging, video and data sharing applications across various electronic devices. In addition, he will have international responsibility for Sony’s marketing talent development strategy.
Nishida has spent the last seven years of his 31-year Sony career in key management positions at Sony Electronics, including the last three as president and COO. Throughout his tenure, the company has held leading U.S. market share positions in several key consumer electronics categories.
In other company news, other Sony Corporation executives also received new responsibilities. Ken Kutaragi, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment and a member of the corporate board, has been named executive deputy president of Sony Corporation, in addition to his other duties.
Sony Corporation’s CEO Nobuyuki Idei has added the title of CEO of the Sony Group, which includes all of Sony’s operations worldwide. Kunitake Ando, chief operating officer of Sony Corporation, adds the same title with the Sony Group.
These executive changes are part of a plan to group its businesses into separate units. The three main business groups are gaming, entertainment and personal solutions. The groups involving consumer electronics include the home network unit, which will focus on next-generation TVs and web products; broadband network, which involves networking gaming; and the IT and mobile-solutions network, which includes computers, digital cameras, cellular phones and other categories.