Kaz Hirai and Sony's top brass sacrificing bonuses
Every little helps as financial report day looms.
Sony's top brass will forego bonuses amounting to a hefty chunk of their annual salaries as the company prepares to report a billion-dollar annual loss tomorrow.
Kaz Hirai - the former PlayStation boss who vowed to turn the company's fortunes around - and around 40 others will sacrifice roughly a third of what they annually earn, reported Reuters. The Wall Street Journal said those sacrifices could be as high as 50 per cent of annual wages.
The cuts will apparently recoup nearly $10m for Sony - a drop in the ocean next to the $1.3bn loss we've been prepared for tomorrow, deadline day. It's a worrying turnaround from the profit Sony once expected to post this year. Instead, it will brace for its fourth annual loss in five years.
The parallels to that other historic Japanese gaming company - Nintendo - are strong, as president Satoru Iwata and icon Shigeru Miayamoto slash their wages in a gesture of good will among financial trouble.
But unlike Nintendo, Sony's flagship console - PS4 - is enjoying great success. It's a shining light in amongst all the gloom. Despite that, PlayStation hardware sales are expected to be reported as at their lowest in 10 years (the PS2 continued to sell well into its, err, twilight years).
Kaz Hirai's radical restructuring of Sony, since taking over in February 2012, hasn't quite gone to plan, but there are signs the worst may be over.
The ailing legacy PC business isn't working and will be sold off, and the troublesome TV business will be separated. The hefty costs associated with that restructuring will apparently be soaked up this year, which gives Sony a clearer run at success in the year ahead.
Kaz Hirai will reveal Sony's long-term strategy later this month, which will focus on what he sees as the company's three pillars: games, imaging technology and mobile devices.
