Sony Snags American as CEO

Sony recently shocked industry observers by naming an American citizen, Howard Stringer, as its new chairman and CEO. Stringer replaces Nobuyuki Idei about 18 months before Idei's announced retirement, a sign that the suddenly struggling Japanese consumer electronics giant is ready to deviate from its current path and right the ship. While much of Sony's business is healthy—its video games, music, and movie businesses are especially strong—most of the company's revenues are derived from consumer electronics. And it's in that realm that Sony has been outpaced and, some say, embarrassed by its inability to compete with Apple Computer's iPod. Can Stringer make a difference? We'll see. But in the meantime, Sony was desperately in need of a wake-up call