A barnstorming quarter – which generated a record-breaking $9.6 billion in revenue for the PlayStation division alone – has prompted some shake ups within Sony’s upper-management hierarchy. CFO Hiroki Totoki has been promoted to president, active from 1st April, which marks the beginning of the next financial year.
Potentially with a view to eventually taking the top seat, Totoki will work alongside current CEO Kenichiro Yoshida as president and COO. He’ll also continue to oversee his finance roles. Investors believe the executive offers the organisation a “steady hand”, having played a crucial role in shaping Sony’s current successful direction.
“I am obsessed with growth,” the suit said during a financial call. “When growth stagnates, you fall into a negative spiral. We have defined our company’s purpose with Yoshida’s leadership. My job is to make that a concrete project.”
Over the past few years, Sony has transitioned from a consumer electronics company to an entertainment giant, with much of its revenue now generated by businesses such as PlayStation, Sony Pictures, and Sony Music. Its next big endeavour will see it attempt to penetrate the burgeoning electric vehicles market as part of a joint venture with Honda.
[source ft.com]
Comments 70
Best console ever the PlayStation!
He looks a bit small tbf... sri
Constant growth is one of the most blatantly stupid issues with capitalism. The bubble always bursts. It’s possible to be perfectly happy with how much money you’re making, that’s how local businesses have functioned since time immemorial. This growth mindset is almost always directly linked to somebody being screwed over somewhere. If they have extra revenue being generated that can be reinvested in new streams, then they can afford to pay factory workers a living wage. They can afford to not utilise slave labour as well, they were named as one of the companies using Uyghur slave camp labour after all.
@nessisonett well said!
The ebb and flow of life exists in business too and corporations seem to forget constant growth is impossible.
They’re pretty stupid for supposedly clever people.
@nessisonett that's what bill Gates said when he started Microsoft.... thats what Steve jobs said with apple....
100s of billions later more growth.
Unfortunately this is the world we live in.
Money talks.
A made up concept to make trading easier now rules the world
@BeerIsAwesome Exactly.
The best decision they made was to shift from electronics to entertainment. Their hardware is good but Samsung is way cheaper (they aren't even optimized lol) and Apple way ... "cooler"(?).
@GymratAmarillo Apple alone has made many companies shift their goals, apple now has 2 Billion Active devices.12 in my house alone. Sony just can’t compete in those market’s these days and really no one outside of Samsung and google can. I like this approach for Sony to focus on its core, which is TV’s, Cinema, Video games, camera’s and Music. I still like their TV’s best, Samsung TV’s can’t touch the Sony’s in processing and color accuracy. Happy to see PS5 doing so well for them and it should really only get better now that the shortage is over and more games come out.
@nessisonett 👏 👏 👏 Exactly what I was thinking! This new exec is gonna be in for a rude awakening!
Growth is an impossible goal you can only grow so much as the pandemic taught alot of tech companies
@GymratAmarillo @Green-Bandit Doesn't Sony provide the camera for iPhone, though? They used to anyway.
@Bez87 I don't see what he said cause he's blocked me but if it's something to do with how profits can only reach a certain level before they fall back down to realistic values then he's right lol
@get2sammyb there was an article about that recently actually where they admitted that they do use Sony for the cameras
But that's what all businesses are chasing isn't it growth shareholders aren't happy if they aren't making more every year regardless of weather they made billions last year & they're still making billions but slightly less billions the number always needs to be bigger or someone's doing something wrong
@get2sammyb they did have a contract with apple for a while and i think it went back to LG, but i saw on Mac rumors or 9to5 MAC that Apple was looking to switch back to sony for the upcoming iPhone ,So yes they do at times make some nice money from those deals. Personally i really like Sony engineering and am a HUGE Apple fan, so I would like to see that deal be more permanent.
@get2sammyb also Sony cameras are used a lot in Sporting events. So that is an area of strength for them as well. I just don’t see them ever getting back consumer electronics when the Tech Giants have that saturated. So this new business model they have been on for a while seems really good and smart, glad to see it paying off.
@EVIL-C Quite the contrary. This mindset and approach is designed to extract as much money from the workforce and user base as possible, maximizing shareholder payouts and executive bonuses before the inevitable low level firings when growth slows. The corporate myth of perpetual growth is calculated and very deliberate, as is the nonsense mantra that “Corporations exist to make money.”
They know exactly what they’re doing.
@Nancyboy Exactly why my comment was a criticism of this guy and his infinite growth mindset. It's ridiculous.
Also, corporations exist for both making products AND making money. Don't pretend the latter isn't a reason that many start companies.
Man I WISH we could go back to the days before capitalism was invented so we could have.......99.99% of the world's population living in poverty?
@EVIL-C No intent to be contrary on my part (and I’m not reading your reply as defensive). And sure, people go into biz to make money. It’s just the “exist to make money” crap is justification for all manner of abuses. I’m sure we’re basically on the same page.
Have a swell evening, C.
To be fair I think regulated capitalism is the best economic system in existence, not laissez faire.
But I see "capitalism" being blamed for everything under the Sun these days by an ignorant online community so I always feel the need to defend it.
It's truly the economic equivalent of the "Thanks Obama" meme, only these people actually mean it.
Btw Sony has plenty of room to grow, it's nowhere near saturation. When that day comes though then they should shift strategies to maintain what they created instead of trying to force growth where it cannot be achieved.
Don't care as long as you put out a full length Astro Bot game. Growth? It's literally the only game I'd buy for $70
@nessisonett exactly. Anyone that suggest it's sustainable or defends this shortside path to destruction is nothing more than so hopelessly enslaved by the current system as to not even be aware of their own enslavement.
@GreatAuk nope, and to be clear what we have in developed countries today is a far cry from truly regulated capitalism. Even then the system is entirely reliant on deception and predatory practice in the name of rec curing and ever growing revenue.
@EVIL-C I'd hardly call them a new suit, they are moving up from CFO to COO & President...
@Would_you_kindly Sony sensors are world class, even their competitors in cameras use them.
@GreatAuk unfortunately capitalism drives innovation. We would not be as forward minded technology wise if there wasn't a payout behind it.
@NomNom I meant new as in newly promoted into a new position. Sorry that that wasn't clear.
@nessisonett All I agree my friend! Greed greed. This is why their is no room and impossible for the little man to make it.
@KundaliniRising333 Can you be specific when you use the words predatory and deception? Especially since you say it's entirely, not even partly.
@NomNom there's pros and cons to everything, I agree.
Look what happens when there's no competition, you get stagnation. Look what Intel did the last decade+, for awhile they had no serious competition and they got lazy and innovation dropped off dramatically. They fell behind their own roadmap.
If we want to solve the world's problems we need healthy competition. Technology will solve the big issues of today, such as climate change. Ironically it will probably be capitalism that gets us out of that hole. The green economy will be MASSIVE.
And don't let anyone tell you that some other economic system wouldn't have caused climate change. How else would you have clothed, fed and warmed 8 billion people?
You (not literally you btw) think if instead of capitalism we had worldwide socialism or communism they would have somehow advanced the science of photovoltaics and battery storage/capacity to be several decades ahead of where we are now?
Of course not. We would have the same environmental issue, only technology would probably be several decades behind.
@GreatAuk really? You have no idea how a product or service coming from what we call a capitalist economy employs deception in selling said good or service?
In its very nature that's a form of predation on consumers (which is all we are to these corporations).
I'm not sure of any examples of any for profit good or service that doesn't employ deception.
‘Growth, growth, growth’, the cancer of the world.
In other words, under this new exec Sony will turn into an evil company.
Shinra.
Sounds like bad news to me. Growth obcessed execs tend to run companies to the ground by cutting on originality and variety and focusing only on the biggest and samey projects.
That is not how things work in videogames. You need variety. The result of growth obsession is clear for all to see with Ubisoft and where they are now.
Where were all you guys backing me up in the thread the other day! 😂
Anyhoo, wow, were back to that Sony.... That escalated quickly. Bucke up! (And bend over...). Not surprising but we're just one quote away from being back at "if you can't afford our overpriced console get a second job."
Though, isn't this the guy that just yesterday was basically helping sabotage SIE and help Microsoft's case 😆
About "capitalism ", first there is no such system. "Capitalism" is a pejorative coined by Marx and Engels derriding the free market system based on its principle flaw of the "capital class" (their term.)
Second the capitalism that was functional consisted principally of small scale, localized business, significant room for competition, and vast inefficiently in which most opportunity was created. What we call "capitalism"is not that. Technology and the quest for ultimate efficiency removed that. Once we were down to 1-3 planetary scale corporations per industry with near total efficiency without the gaps needed for opportunity and the cost of entry in modern high tech business unaffordable except to already existing large corporations, endlessly merging bigger, all the tentpoles that made the concept of capitalism work in the 18th to mid 20th century are gone.
What we have now is more like a hybrid of socialism and feudalism, leaning ever closer to a full return to feudalism, while we run around calling it "capitalism", a communists' tongue in cheek derision of free market economies, while there's infinite evidence nothing close to a free market exists, or can ever exist again.
The problem is the public is too clueless to worry about it, and even if they did, it's clear that none of the 18th century models we go on about are suitable for the high tech reality and nobody wants to come up with a better model because anyone in a position to do so benefits heavily from the current one and the old solution of armed uprising as a failsafe no longer work with modern large scale weaponry.
Yet the default to say "but it's the best we have" is akin to a hospital saying "well, leeches are the best cure we have so good luck with that."
Actually leeches are a great analogy...
@KundaliniRising333 @nessisonett
Care to name a better alternative? And if you say "regulated capitalism", please explain your meaning of that as well. Cheers, I hotly anticipate your well thought out responses.
I'm mostly curious how it's cars are going to turn out?
I doubt they'll get market share on it.
Also, @nessisonett why did you block me? Pretty sure I never spoken with you before lol
Removed - harassment; user is banned
@RawnDawn Think you’re mistaken there, if I’d blocked you then I wouldn’t be able to see your comments.
@GymratAmarillo @Green-Bandit In the end when I'm looking at hardware from a phone to a laptop they all look the same and boring.
I'm at a point where I rather have longer support then the switch of lets say a boring phone that looks just as boring as all the others or insanely expensive.
This is my 5th Sony phone and I'm now thinking what brand I want to try next but when I look at them I just think wow these things are getting more and more expensive and they barely have any differences. Maybe a Nokia at least they reuse materials.
I love how a bunch of dopamine addicted videogame nerds hate the thing that made them their favorite Ips in the first place.
All IPs created are a product of capitalism.
Zelda, Weeb Stuff like Final Fantasy and so on. Everything.
Stop playing your favourite games then. But you wont..... because you like that sweet rush of dopamine in your brain and you like it much more than hating on capitalism.
Humans a weird species.
@The_Moose @RawnDawn Pretty sure that’s why I got blocked by that user, either that or saying that I respected women’s rights. Ah well, not going to dwell on it.
As much as I also hate this idea of constant growth it’s pretty much unavoidable as we all want the latest gear. Somethings got to pay for it. That and I’m pretty sure the alternatives don’t work either, then having been tried before and failed.
What exec that works for a publicly traded company isn't obsessed with growth?
@NEStalgia I often think of the feudal system when I see news stories these days and it's an analogy I've used in the past to express how I feel about our modern economic system. Obviously the majority of us are much better off than your average serf back in the day but when you think of where we could be if we had more emphasis on the socialism side of the spectrum it's more than a little depressing.
But hey, I guess being a pampered modern serf is better than being one from the middle ages.
@The_Moose "@RawnDawn You probably said something he disagreed with. Did you at any point say you were looking forward to playing Hogwarts Legacy?" if i could give you a million likes for that reply i would but you will have to accept the 1 and pretend its a million 🤣👍
@Allfather i find it rather odd that some gamers condem the capitalist swine to hell but continue to purchase their products thus promoting and encouraging it. Its truely profound.
This guy is bad he's obsessed with growth!!!!!
So basically something that just about every corporation wants to continue steady profits and remain in business
@Northern_munkey and if that minimum wage amazon driver does not deliver my game on the morning of release, twitter is going to know about it
@MatthewJP a bit strong that..that poor exploited amazon driver being posted all over twitter. If you aint careful a certain poster on here will have you for abusing his human rights..
oh no. man says out loud what every business wants. be it a 1man or 100000man business.
the shock and horror of it.
@nessisonett Yes constant growth is for sure the wrong thing to do it when it's only one product, but here growth is (I think reading the article) going into the car business with Honda and that is smart. Electric cars use a ton of components Sony is really good in like camera's and software so it's smart to diversify your portfolio and going into business with an excellent car maker to be less depending on the entertainment pillar that is doing to well for them at the moment.
It's like theme parks for Comcast, it's doing so well for them (Universal Studios) they now have a third pillar making their company much stable unlike Disney who only is in entertainment.
Jeez PushSquare what have you done! I thought this was a gaming site not Economic times!
@Northern_munkey
"i find it rather odd that some gamers condem the capitalist swine to hell but continue to purchase their products "
Agree. Nail meet head.
These sort of comments wind me up.
Sony are doing what every successful large business, that employs a meaningful number of people, has done. The system is not perfect but I've yet to see anyone come up with a realistic proposal for anything better. All of us here are 'guilty' of benefitting from 'slavery' as some people choose to see it.
The solution is not to sit in their heated house, belly full, typing words on a keyboard that, if not produced in China, will contain parts made in China and complain. It might salve their conscience a bit but is, ultimately, a meaningless gesture.
If people want to change the world start by not buying anything other than that necessary to live. If you do, make sure it's completely ethically sourced, preferable made locally. Donate the rest of your money to charities and organisations that might actually be able to achieve some good with it. If enough people do that, maybe things might change.
Sorry, rant over.
@get2sammyb Sony does make the camera sensor's for iphones, Sony has 60+% of the camera sensor market.
@KundaliniRising333 I'm seriously asking for for what you mean by deception and predation, because if you level such accusations I need concrete examples and a higher level of specificity than just saying, "it's so clear to me that they employ these tactics, why isn't it clear to you."
@Flaming_Kaiser the cell phone market has peaked in terms of what they offer these days. In the early stages of iPhone and android every 2 years the phones were getting so much better and looking slightly different, now it’s a camera improvement and slightly faster processor. I used to upgrade yearly, then went to 2 years and now might even start doing a 3 year cycle. So i know what you mean, i am an Apple fanatic and have over 12 devices of apple in the house between my wife and daughter and myself. So no way i would switch, but i would like to hold and mess with a Sony phone just to mess with it, i like Sony electronics, i have for 20 years, it’s why i was always upset that i disliked the PS3 and PS4 controllers so much compared to Xbox, and frankly just disliked them in general. Fast forward to Dual Sense and it is close to spot on, i have the Dual Sense Edge on order and will get it this week, so i will see if that is slightly better in hand. I’ve been a 3 console owner for a long time and honestly want all 3 to do great, but had i liked Sony controllers more i would have supported Sony even better software wise. Hey flip phones are back in style in Japan, you’d save some money with a Nokia, and at the end of the day it will still do the core basic functions you want it too. 😀
@Green-Bandit I agree regarding phones, I am technology obsessed and they just don't do it for me anymore the way they used to.
I upgraded every year going back to the original phone in 2007. I've had so many different phones (I have zero brand loyalty haha) went from iphones to Samsung Notes, to LG, briefly to Nokia, and then Pixels. Never a Sony though, they were hard to get and very expensive.
I have a Pixel 6 Pro and for the first time I don't feel compelled to upgrade.
I think Sony can reemerge in the TV business more than they currently are. I have the LG CX 77 but the Sony was too expensive for me so it was a nonstarter. A more competitive price would change that.
There are definitely areas for growth for Sony.
@GreatAuk Spot on buddy, great post, I agree. I am brand loyal to Apple, but it’s either love or hate with their walled garden approach and it works great for me having all my products sync and just work together, controlling my Apple TV in bed on my Apple Watch seems lazy and it largely is, but i don’t even have to move to get the remote, it’s on my wrist. Ok enough plugging for Apple products HAHA, Google Pixel is the only phone i would buy if for some reason my work or something made me get a Android phone, great choice there and may i say while i respect you aren’t looking to upgrade much, Google is young in development on those tensor chips they custom make for Pixel phones. So in a year or two you might see big gains to power, battery efficiency and other areas as they get into the groove with that custom silicon. Apples custom M chips are insane. Sony Phones are a dinosaur apparently cause i agree they are hard to find or i would play test with one, i have no reason to believe they wouldn’t be good. Yes sony has room to improve their TV market, they have the best Processing and color accuracy in the business, comes at a premium price tho and that is kinda their marketing strategy at the moment. I bought a LG C1 65 inch Oled in 2021 for Series X and PS5, i wanted a Sony Tv as thats all i ever used to buy, but i was turned off by the lack of HDMI. 2.1 ports and no VRR, tho I knew software updates would include it at some point, the lack of HDMI spots and price were the points i couldn’t get past. I love my LG, but if you asked me if i could do it all over again, what would i pick, it would be hard to not get the Sony for the few extra hundred dollars. What hurts me is i upgraded my sound system to a Sonos Arc and sub with 2 rears, the Arc runs on a HDMI port and frustrating as it is doesn’t give you one back on the soundbar, driving a nail in the Sony Tv even further. My setup is complete until PS6, but i am sure i will be back on Sony TV’s to match the bedroom Sony TV’s again. Sorry for the long reply, i really liked your post, we are in the same boat and bought and thought in similar ways. Happy gaming friend and enjoy your setup, it sounds insanely great. 😀
@Green-Bandit Thank you! Despite skipping the upgrade this year, there's no way I'll be able to hold out 3 years so I'll be upgrading to the Pixel 8 Pro when it's released.
I'm also a big fan of the latest iphone, I think it's very refined. I love flat screens so +1 to Apple for not getting suckered into that trend.
I actually have a Macbook but a Windows desktop (I know, zero consistency.)
I find the M chips incrediblly impressive to the point where I will be buying the new M2 Mini. I'm just waiting to see if Microsoft will release Boot camp for the M chips. If I don't see any movement in this area soon (I honestly don't think there will be) I'll buy the Mini anyway and install Windows with Parallels.
I don't game on the PC anyway, I don't need a powerhouse GPU. That's what the PS5 is for.
One day I hope to be in the market for a Micro LED Sony panel!
@The_Moose
@GreatAuk
Listen boys, this isn't going to go how you think it will go. I get what you are attempting to initiate here and trust me I've been there and done that before. You want me to respond with my thoughts not because you want to hear them but because you want to refute them by regurgitating a myriad of aging and ultimately self-defeating ideas and justifications of which you have been spoon-fed your entire life and yet you think you came to those conclusions on your own.
The reality is, if one actually cared in any way about learning alternatives to the current world order, you would be open minded and do your own objective research on these topics. However, it is far more likely you simply want to argue, and your biases have such a strangle hold on you that you cannot even control your own ego and mental conditioning enough to consider the possibility that what you believe may be faulty, misinformed or at the very least highly inaccurate and incomplete.
So no, I'm not going to list out some manifesto on the variables needed to create a better functioning of human society merely so that you can gleefully engage in some sort of intellectual pissing contest via a video game website comment section.
As I said, I'm not here to convince you of anything, and if you really wanted to consider another point of view you would seek one out via the multitude of data, theories, facts, falsehoods, and everything in between available at your fingertips. As a member of the scientific and grossly dogmatic and handicapped academic community, I can tell you I deal with this low level of ego fed intellectualism on a daily basis. So please do us both a favor and move onto the next poor sod whom you hope to argue for the sake of arguing with. I'm sure much will be solved in doing so.
I wish you well in that endeavor. Have a great weekend.
@GreatAuk yeah the M chips are insane, i would love to see a M1 or M2 in a Nintendo Switch and see what it could do on the GPU side. Cause mobile games albeit not my thing, look incredible these days compared to Switch titles. Not sure of the limitations of that or if it would even work. A Micro Led from Sony would look insanely good in a few year and cost around 1000 head of cattle. More than likely i stick to Oled as the price on the tech is starting to reach decent levels for what you get back in return and Black levels will always be king. Yeah the Mac mini will be a great purchase, even more so with no caring about gaming on it. I just don’t care enough for PC gaming to take the leap into it. I have my Series X as my PC gaming so to speak, and my PS5 for Sony exclusives and i am really happy with that setup personally, not to say i wouldn’t mind testing out a gaming PC, but i like high end and i would want near cutting edge performance on PC and that’s not cheap, nor am I convinced it’s more fun than console. I believe google will at some point catch fire with the Pixel phones on the Android side, Samsung screens and name are carrying it, but sales have fallen off for Samsung phones at the high end, i think if Google continues to stay in the game with Pixel they will be just fine, and again if i had to buy a android phone today it would be a Pixel.
@KundaliniRising333
"this isn't going to go how you think it will go."
Nah actually it has gone exactly as I thought it would. When those who attack the current system are asked what system they would implement instead they do one of two things.
The honourable choice sees them list their ideas in public and allow them to be criticised as all ideas should. The dishonourable choice sees them obfuscate, make excuses and downright refuse claiming that those who asked should "go read up on these things". Usually because the ideas they have wouldn't survive first contact with reality.
Shame you chose the latter. May you never get near a shred of real political power.
Have a lovely day.
@KundaliniRising333 Agreed.
Man, look how big and consolidated the gaming industry has gotten. Sony and Microsoft are such behemoths. It’s cool and disappointing at the same time.
Of course they should want to grow and expand. That’s how you get awesome technology like smartphones and VR2. Capitalism breeds innovation at a fast pace.
@Green-Bandit Who is talking that I want a €50 phone. Phones are a necessity they just don't make me say wow thats cool or special they are all the same.
You have folding phones with insane prices and what? Every phone has a bigger island with sensors and more pixels and zoom and they are faster whats so different besides that.
And in the end it still sucks to play mobile games and 99% of them are a boring grindfest or play themselves and have flat out lies with adds how they play. The one thing i see if they would lose the mobile market constraints waiting times, MT, time wasters and would play on a real handheld or god forbid without the horrible touch controls.
The phones are not eco friendly lets hope the EU will make some rules about supporting phones with updates for a longer period and better fixable. The materials are getting more rare and the conditions for the workers that find them aren't decent to say the least. A more sustainable and a better way to use them longer would be the route to go.
Nokia has some nice models with longer support and more reused materials i have been looking into the Fairphone but i dont know its not there for me "yet". Its not that I hold Nokia in such a high regard but what is there besides that I just don't like the Samsung OS looks and some Chinese brands that have a bang for buck but are also still the same thing.
@Flaming_Kaiser yeah i dislike mobile games as well. I have zero of them on my iphone and think we have the Apple Arcade plan on our family plan and i don’t even use it. I agree with phones are getting harder to make and the batteries are not great for the environment, tho apple is so close to being fully Carbon Neutral and does used recycled aluminum on macs and iPhones, which is nice. I played with the Samsung folding phone and just didn’t see its appeal for me. Sadly the mobile market just keeps on turning and burning at the moment, but i could live with it slowing down, i don’t upgrade like i used to thats for sure, not even my ipad and i use that as my main computer in the house 90% of the time.
@Green-Bandit It's a pity i use my phone more then my laptop that's why I'm so dissapointed that there isn't more effort put in keeping the mobiles around for longer. Andriod is the biggest problem thats one thing i like a lot more with Apple. My mom got her phone from my youngest brother a IPhone before she had a Samsung.
The funny thing is she tells me every time If I buy a new phone it will be a Samsung again. The reason I didn't get a Sony phone again is because of the support its way to short for the price. And it's sad it's one of the few phones that have everything I want. SD card support, wired headphones, and the best shell of the Andriod OS.
@Flaming_Kaiser Apple is way better about supporting the OS and security patches for its devices for longer than android. Some android phones never even get the updates at all. Google Pixel does and thats even kind of a new thing along with Galaxy. For me it’s iPhone or i will tie two bean can’s to a rope.
@Green-Bandit Totally agreed but Apple IOS is made for one specific phone which makes it a lot easier to do.
@Flaming_Kaiser thats the advantage of having the software and hardware all made in house. Throw in their custom M2 chips and it’s a force to be reckon with in speed and performance.
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