Talk man or walk man?
Nobuyuki Idei has produced a bold-sounding plan to turn around Sony, but it will not be easy
WHEN Akio Morita, the late founder of Sony, took home the small stereo-cassette player from which his engineers had removed the record function, he soon realised that this was going to be a popular item. And so was born the Walkman, one of the world's hottest consumer-electronics products. Since 1995, Sony has been led by Nobuyuki Idei, but the hit products have seemed fewer and the Japanese company's fortunes have grown bleaker. This week, Mr Idei made his latest attempt to get to grips with the problem when he announced a bold (by Japanese standards) restructuring plan for Sony's core electronics business.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Talk man or walk man?”
From the November 1st 2003 edition
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