A respected stock analyst believes that Sony Chief Executive Sir Howard Stringer should “step down” after the PlayStation Network was brought to its knees a couple of weeks ago.
Raising security fears among its 70 million-plus members, the PlayStation Network was hacked on April 18 and private user data, including direct debit details and credit card information, may have been compromised.
Michael On, a fund manager from Beyond Asset Management, believes that Sony’s management should be accountable for the data breach. "The current CEO should step down after the hacker problems and the company’s failure to push out products that are competitive," On told Reuters.
Kazuo Hirai, who would likely to take over from Stringer as CEO whenever he leaves/gets pushed out of the company, is also in the firing line. "The leadership of Sony is not in a good place right now, which could lead to Stringer stepping down and may sabotage Hirai’s chances of succeeding as the CEO," says On.
Investors have been critical of Sony ever since the scandal unfolded a couple of weeks ago, but more people have begun to speak out following confirmation on Monday that Sony Online Entertainment’s games network – which hosts the likes of DC Universe Online – has also been hacked. Despite being hacked on April 18, Sony didn’t shut down the servers for its online services and inform customers until today, May 3.
Sony executives issued an apology on Sunday for the downtime caused by the hacking and revealed that it will issue free content for all users and give everyone the chance to try out PlayStation Plus free for a month. The PlayStation Network is due to go back online later this week, we’re told. Meanwhile, Sony has yet to confirm if credit card information was actually stolen or not. On the official blog, Sony rep Patrick Seybold confirmed that the company "is conducting a thorough and on-going investigation and working with law enforcement to track down and prosecute those responsible for the illegal intrusion."