Sony's Hirai to Extend PlayStation Strategy

Incoming CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to re-shape Sony Corp by linking hardware and software through online networks -- a model he used at its PlayStation unit -- dismissing any suggestion the battered brand would revert to a gadget-centered strategy under his management.

In the meantime, he said, he would focus on paring costs at its TV unit and look to squeeze expenses elsewhere to return Sony to profit.

The Sony Computer Entertainment model "is a bigger concept we can grow into a bigger space," Hirai, 51, said in a group interview at the company's Tokyo headquarters. "Hardware drives software and software drives hardware," he added, referring to online sales of games and other content PlayStation owners.

Hirai oversaw the phenomenal rise of the PlayStation gaming system in the United States and since last March headed Sony's consumer products and services business.

He didn't say what changes the wider application of that strategy would have on Sony, which unlike its consumer electronics rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, owns significant content in movies, music and games software.

(Reuters)