Sir Howard Stringer (from my understanding) is a very intellinget man, which is one of the reasons he is the only western CEO Sony has ever had. I'm willing to bet that he wasn't really happy with how the PS3 was going to be marketed but he was informed too late to do anything about it ...
Mr. Kutaragi was notorious within the company for his reluctance to communicate with his bosses or other units. In 2005, Mr. Kutaragi hosted an event at a big electronics conference in Las Vegas to celebrate the U.S. launch of the PlayStation Portable handheld game machine -- one of the company's biggest products that year. He didn't invite executives from Sony's electronics division, which provided the parts.
In developing the PlayStation 3 console, the device's latest iteration, Mr. Kutaragi went over budget on development costs without informing Mr. Stringer, according to a person familiar with the situation. When Mr. Stringer urged Mr. Kutaragi to have dinner with the heads of the electronics division, he did so just once a year, this person said. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kutaragi declined to comment.
In September, Mr. Kutaragi announced Sony was halving shipments of the new PlayStation to the U.S. and Japan and was pushing back its European launch. At a news conference, Mr. Kutaragi blamed Sony's electronics group for failing to produce enough of a critical component, exposing his tense relationship with the division.
I don't care how legendary or historically successful a manager might be - if they are unable or unwilling to adapt to the culture, the vision you, as leader, have clearly communicated, they have to go. But not two years later, after the corrosive effect of doing things "their way" has already sunk in. Having a senior manager blame other groups for his group's woes? Raising concerns of investors, suppliers and customers alike? Unacceptable everywhere and at any time in any culture.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/sony/sonys-problems-start-at-the-top-241418.php