Ryoji Chubachi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
An engineer who joined Sony in April 1977 and built his career in the recording media business. He became an executive officer in June 1999, a managing executive officer in June 2002 and Executive Deputy President in June 2004, and was named Electronics CEO in April 2005. After Nobuyuki Idei from business planning and Kunitake Ando from finance and information equipment, his appointment swung the line back to a president rooted in hardware development.
Selection
In June 2005 he succeeded Kunitake Ando as Representative Corporate Executive Officer and President, while Howard Stringer became Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO at the same time. The structural decline in electronics profitability exposed by the Sony Shock of April 2003 had not been resolved: in the fiscal year ended March 2005, the year before he took office, consolidated sales were ¥7,159.6 billion and operating income only ¥113.9 billion. The appointment appears to have entrusted the turnaround of the core business to an engineer promoted from Electronics CEO.
Initiatives
After he took office, Sony Ericsson recovered on hits such as camera phones and Walkman phones. Losses in televisions, the biggest problem, did not stop, however, and S-LCD, the LCD panel venture set up 50-50 with Samsung Electronics in April 2004, did not improve profitability either. In October 2007 Sony Financial Holdings, which oversees the three financial companies, listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Lehman shock in autumn 2008 compounded the damage, and in the fiscal year ended March 2009, just before he stepped down, Sony posted its first operating loss since its founding, ¥227.8 billion, along with a net loss of ¥98.9 billion.
Career
Career
Sony
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1977 | Joined |
| Jun 1999 | Executive Officer |
| Jun 2002 | Managing Executive Officer |
| Jun 2003 | Senior Managing Corporate Executive |
| Jun 2004 | Executive Deputy President |
| Apr 2005 | Electronics CEO |
| Jun 2005 | Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, President |
| Apr 2009 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Vice Chairman |
| Apr 2009 | Stepped down as President |