Sony lost chairman of the board and decided to close the factory for the production of smartphones

In just one day, Sony received several sad news at once: first, it leaves

Chairman of the Board of Directors Kazuo Hirai; secondly, in China it is necessary to close the factory for the production of smartphones. But first things first.

Goodbye Kazuo!

Kazuo Hirai, who gave Sony as much as 35 yearshis life, finishes several months and retires. The 58-year-old manager had long been thinking about retirement: overcoming the crisis and earning more than one billion dollars for the company, a year ago he resigned as chief executive officer and president and transferred the board to CFO Kenichiro Yoshida.

He is now chairman of the board of directors, but June 18 is the last day of his work at Sony. Despite his resignation, he will continue to share his experience with colleagues as a senior adviser.

"After the transfer of Yoshida-san Relay GeneralDirector last April, I had the opportunity, as chairman of Sony, to ensure a smooth transition and provide support to Sony management. I am sure that everyone at Sony fully agrees with the strong leadership of Yoshida-san and is ready to build an even brighter future for Sony. Therefore, I decided to leave the company, which for the last 35 years has been a part of my life, ”said Kazuo Hirai.

What about the plant?

At the same time, Sony decided to close the plant bythe production of smartphones in Beijing, the capital of China. Production will be transferred to its own plant in Thailand. It’s all about the losses that the division suffers: the company now takes up less than 1% of the smartphone market, significantly lagging behind its Chinese competitors. If you close your eyes to the design, which has long been promised to change, Sony smartphones can not boast of such a set of advanced technologies like other devices. But the price tag at the same level.

After the closure of the plant, the companies hope to cut costs and return the profit next year. In the meantime, they are preparing for a loss of $ 863 million in the 2018–19 fiscal year.

Despite the setbacks, the company is not going to close or sell the smartphone manufacturing unit.