Stringer: Sony brand on post-PSN upswing

Sony's brand perception is "clearly" recovering following the PSN security breach PR cataclysm last month, so says CEO Howard Stringer.

Speaking at Sony's annual meeting in a Tokyo hotel, as reported by the BBC, Stringer apologised for the hack and praised PlayStation gamers for returning to the system.

"Our brand perception, you'll be happy to know, is clearly improving again," he insisted.

"My foremost responsibility to the board and all of you is to further advance the transformation process, firmly establish Sony's position as a global product, content and service leader in the networked digital era and ensure our continued development and growth."

Stringer also took the opportunity to announce that he'd taken a pay-cut. His salary and bonuses have fallen 16 per cent to a meagre ¥345m yen (around £2.7m) a year.

Even so, some shareholders in attendance didn't seem to have a great deal of faith in the chief executive, with one calling for him to resign. The company's stock has dropped 30 per cent over the last 12 months and it has recorded three consecutive years of losses.