Sony’s Choice for President Signals Focus on Films

Sony Corp., in a surprise promotion indicating increased attention to the movie, music and television side of its business, on Wednesday named marketing executive Nobuyuki Idei, 57, to be its next president.

Norio Ohga, Sony’s current president and chief executive, said he chose Idei because the struggling electronics and entertainment conglomerate needed a leader with mastery of its “software” side as well as its technical side.

It had been widely reported for months in the Japanese press that Executive Deputy President Minoru Morio, an engineer, was in line to succeed Ohga, who turned 65 in January.

Idei (pronounced E-Day), a managing director, will become president April 1. Ohga will move over to the Sony chairmanship vacated late last year by co-founder Akio Morita, who is in ill health since he suffered a stroke in 1993.

Ohga stressed, however, that he will remain chief executive and retain responsibility for all major decisions. Idei will hold the title of chief operating officer. Ohga compared the new partnership, which resembles his own relationship with Morita through most of the 1980s, as “two men running a three-legged race.”

In Hollywood, Idei’s appointment was met with surprise. And sources said there was relief among Sony Pictures executives, since Idei’s more hardware-oriented rivals for the top job were more skeptical of Sony’s investment in the movie business.

The appointment is likely to blunt rumors that Sony plans to sell Sony Pictures since a $2.7-billion write-off and a $510-million operating loss were announced last November. Sony Pictures Chairman Peter Guber quit under pressure last fall, after a dismal year at the box office with big-budget flops such as “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” and “I’ll Do Anything.”

Sony of America President Michael P. Schulhof has been under intense pressure to improve the studio’s performance, and he has given former CBS executive Jeffrey Sagansky wide latitude for efforts to return the company to the black and make deals.

Rumors--denied by Sony officials--have for weeks held that another shake-up is coming in Sony Pictures’ executive ranks. In recent weeks, the company has had some box-office success with releases such as “Legends of the Fall,” although the critical periods for films are considered to be summer and the holiday season.

By contrast, Sony’s record business, with artists such as Pearl Jam and Michael Jackson, is under no such pressure, having proved to be a lucrative investment.

Ohga said that in the United States, Sony should not only make movies but also do better in television production.

“In the United States, we have more than 800 movie theaters,” Ohga noted. “How can we make these movie theaters better? How can we get more people to come to these movie theaters? I need someone who can think about (these kinds of things) with us. That’s why I chose (Idei).”

Idei, who vaulted over at least 11 others in more senior posts to win the presidency, said that when Ohga told him he was chosen to be his successor, he was “so surprised it was as if lightning had struck.”

Idei is a Sony generalist who speaks English and French, with an academic background in international economics rather than a technical field. He worked on development of the compact disc, and for the past five years has managed advertising, marketing and public relations.

“Sony needs a leader who can grasp the changes sweeping the electronics industry as the multimedia era approaches,” Ohga said. “Idei speaks the software people’s language. . . . His understanding of the breadth of Sony’s operations made him the natural choice.”

Tsunao Hashimoto, an executive deputy president at Sony, was promoted to vice chairman.

Sony’s electronics business has suffered in recent years from brutal competition, the soaring yen and a lack of hot new consumer electronics products. Promising areas such as high-definition television sets and the Mini Disc music player have been major disappointments.

And Sony now appears to face an uphill struggle in another promising electronics market--the one for digital video disc players that may eventually replace the VCR.

A brutal standards war now appears likely, with Sony facing off against a powerful alliance that includes Matsushita, Toshiba and Time Warner.

Ohga also offered a vigorous defense of Sony’s decision to press forward with development of its own standard for digital video discs, even though many more firms have lined up behind a rival standard. He said digital video discs will be important not only for home viewing, but also for multimedia computer applications.

Ohga predicted that a future combination of dual-layer design and use of shorter-wavelength blue lasers--two technologies still under development--will eventually make Sony’s one-sided digital video disc the preferred standard.