By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Kazuo Hirai should be fired.

fireburn95 on 28 June 2014

Sony mobile, sony entertainment inc playstation, movies and music, and sony medical and sony uber expensive stuff(4k projectors at alot of cinemas here in UK, professional cameras) are doing well.

Get rid of TV and focus on your strength.



Around the Network
Dr.Henry_Killinger on 28 June 2014
RolStoppable said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

That's utter bullshit. If you recall, Sony utterely self-destructed with the release of the PS3, even though it was following the same design philosophy as the PS1 and PS2. Sony could have easily self-destruct with PS4 as well, you're just being disingenous.

Hirai kept in mind that it's important to launch at $399, because price wasn't much of a consideration when it came to the PS3. Not exactly a genius move.

Turning the positions around, it means that the 360 beating the PS3 wasn't much of a challenge either. There's no reason to give Microsoft special credit. More specifically, Microsoft handled their advantage poorly. On the other hand, Nintendo pulled off success against all odds, because their console wasn't backed by the industry; meaning that Sony's self-destruction would have not automatically translated into bigger market share for them, unlike in Microsoft's case.

@joeorc: Bringing up smartphones, tablets and micro consoles isn't a counter-argument.

Against what odds? Last gen was a fluke, the perfect storm of conditions that have yet to be recreated. The industry didn't matter cause Nintendo was being backed by the mainstream.

Kaz has been the CEO for to short a time to scapegoat the problems upon him. If fired, whoever replaces him will have a much worse scenario to deal with and will get fired as well for not stopping a problem that increases when firing CEOs. Granted I'm overestimating his contribution but if you want an easy way to kill a dying company this would be an easy way to do it.



In this day and age, with the Internet, ignorance is a choice! And they're still choosing Ignorance! - Dr. Filthy Frank

Dr.Henry_Killinger on 28 June 2014
RolStoppable said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

Against what odds? Last gen was a fluke, the perfect storm of conditions that have yet to be recreated. The industry didn't matter cause Nintendo was being backed by the mainstream.

Kaz has been the CEO for to short a time to scapegoat the problems upon him. If fired, whoever replaces him will have a much worse scenario to deal with and will get fired as well for not stopping a problem that increases when firing CEOs. Granted I'm overestimating his contribution but if you want an easy way to kill a dying company this would be an easy way to do it.

Oh, so that's what this is about. You thought that I said anything about firing Hirai. No, I just disagreed with Kantor's assertion that Hirai has a proven track record for turning things around. Note that I didn't talk about what Hirai did as CEO of Sony as a whole, but what he did during his reign of SCE.

Carry on then.



In this day and age, with the Internet, ignorance is a choice! And they're still choosing Ignorance! - Dr. Filthy Frank

Soundwave on 28 June 2014

I get the point the OP is trying to make but he cutely avoids the reality that Ken Kutaragi was canned from Sony for the PS3's early performance, after an even longer stretch of success (1994-2006) than Iwata has had.

Kaz was simply the clean up guy.



Aura7541 on 28 June 2014
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:
kowenicki said:

What exactly would firing him accomplish? Further diminish investor faith in Sony? Have any suggestions on who should replace him? Kutaragi perhaps? A pointless endeavor. How would it improve Sony's sitatution?

A huge misconception about Sony is that CEO Kaz Hirai calls all the shots. However, he only calls some of the shots because there is this thing call "executive boards". Kaz may have a really good vision for Sony, but his vision could be held back by the executive board that has other ideas. This is why firing Kutaragi and the stepping down of Howard Stringer didn't help Sony that much, because they are only a few of a potentially large number of people that are holding the company back.



Around the Network
Norris2k on 29 June 2014
RolStoppable said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

That's utter bullshit. If you recall, Sony utterely self-destructed with the release of the PS3, even though it was following the same design philosophy as the PS1 and PS2. Sony could have easily self-destruct with PS4 as well, you're just being disingenous.

Hirai kept in mind that it's important to launch at $399, because price wasn't much of a consideration when it came to the PS3. Not exactly a genius move.

Turning the positions around, it means that the 360 beating the PS3 wasn't much of a challenge either. There's no reason to give Microsoft special credit. More specifically, Microsoft handled their advantage poorly. On the other hand, Nintendo pulled off success against all odds, because their console wasn't backed by the industry; meaning that Sony's self-destruction would have not automatically translated into bigger market share for them, unlike in Microsoft's case.

@joeorc: Bringing up smartphones, tablets and micro consoles isn't a counter-argument.

If it was just about "thinking about launch price", anybody could do it without any stress, they would give you the job. Work to have the best hardware for this price, exceed competition power, avoid PR mistakes, understand client needs (cheap is better than bundle an accessory), meet schedule to deliver millions of consoles worldwide, manage to produce them as late as you can to reduce stock costs, manage secret (price, hardware, bundle) enough to mistake competition, meet target for dev kits, produce a few 1st party, have 3rd party deals, be flexible enough to change hardware design and add memory, make infrastructures ready for launch, OS, etc. That's what he works on and make people work for. And he's very successful, and that's a very hard job.



Hynad on 29 June 2014
Norris2k said:
RolStoppable said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

That's utter bullshit. If you recall, Sony utterely self-destructed with the release of the PS3, even though it was following the same design philosophy as the PS1 and PS2. Sony could have easily self-destruct with PS4 as well, you're just being disingenous.

Hirai kept in mind that it's important to launch at $399, because price wasn't much of a consideration when it came to the PS3. Not exactly a genius move.

Turning the positions around, it means that the 360 beating the PS3 wasn't much of a challenge either. There's no reason to give Microsoft special credit. More specifically, Microsoft handled their advantage poorly. On the other hand, Nintendo pulled off success against all odds, because their console wasn't backed by the industry; meaning that Sony's self-destruction would have not automatically translated into bigger market share for them, unlike in Microsoft's case.

@joeorc: Bringing up smartphones, tablets and micro consoles isn't a counter-argument.

If it was just about "thinking about launch price", anybody could do it without any stress, they would give you the job. Work to have the best hardware for this price, exceed competition power, avoid PR mistakes, understand client needs (cheap is better than bundle an accessory), meet schedule to deliver millions of consoles worldwide, manage to produce them as late as you can to reduce stock costs, manage secret (price, hardware, bundle) enough to mistake competition, meet target for dev kits, produce a few 1st party, have 3rd party deals, be flexible enough to change hardware design and add memory, make infrastructures ready for launch, OS, etc. That's what he works on and make people work for. And he's very successful, and that's a very hard job.

Hum... Just to make sure. Hirai is CEO of Sony. Not president of Sony Computer Entertainment.



Norris2k on 29 June 2014
Hynad said:
Norris2k said:
RolStoppable said:
Dr.Henry_Killinger said:

That's utter bullshit. If you recall, Sony utterely self-destructed with the release of the PS3, even though it was following the same design philosophy as the PS1 and PS2. Sony could have easily self-destruct with PS4 as well, you're just being disingenous.

Hirai kept in mind that it's important to launch at $399, because price wasn't much of a consideration when it came to the PS3. Not exactly a genius move.

Turning the positions around, it means that the 360 beating the PS3 wasn't much of a challenge either. There's no reason to give Microsoft special credit. More specifically, Microsoft handled their advantage poorly. On the other hand, Nintendo pulled off success against all odds, because their console wasn't backed by the industry; meaning that Sony's self-destruction would have not automatically translated into bigger market share for them, unlike in Microsoft's case.

@joeorc: Bringing up smartphones, tablets and micro consoles isn't a counter-argument.

If it was just about "thinking about launch price", anybody could do it without any stress, they would give you the job. Work to have the best hardware for this price, exceed competition power, avoid PR mistakes, understand client needs (cheap is better than bundle an accessory), meet schedule to deliver millions of consoles worldwide, manage to produce them as late as you can to reduce stock costs, manage secret (price, hardware, bundle) enough to mistake competition, meet target for dev kits, produce a few 1st party, have 3rd party deals, be flexible enough to change hardware design and add memory, make infrastructures ready for launch, OS, etc. That's what he works on and make people work for. And he's very successful, and that's a very hard job.

Hum... Just to make sure. Hirai is CEO of Sony. Not president of Sony Computer Entertainment.

In fact he "is the President and CEO of Sony Corporation. He also serves as a member of the board of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc.". So I assume he has quite a part in the success. I could be wrong on how much he has, and I will not pretend to be a specialist on CEO, president role, but I can bet it's more than keep "in mind that it's important to launch at $399".



TheDarkTriforce on 29 June 2014

No one can save Sony!!! Sony products are irelevant today, their TV's are to expensive and there is Samsung und LG, their Smartfones are out, no one want Sony Handys, they all want iPhones or HTC or Samsung, and don't let me start with their PC's!!! It's just a matter of time, Sony will going down and no one want Hirai's job now anyway because it's a sinking ship that no one can stop to sink!!!



amp316 on 29 June 2014

But. But all of those guys with those Kaz gifs couldn't have been wrong about him.



Proud member of the SONIC SUPPORT SQUAD

Tag "Sorry man. Someone pissed in my Wheaties."

"There are like ten games a year that sell over a million units."  High Voltage CEO -  Eric Nofsinger