The NYT and the Economist both comment on the appointment of Sir Howard Stringer as Sony's new CEO.

"The problems he inherits are severe. Two years after the so-called "Sony shock", when the bottom fell out of its earnings and its shares began to plunge (see chart 1), the company appears no closer to sorting out the mess in its electronics business. In the fiscal year that ends this month, Sony expects to have an operating-profit margin---on more than �7 trillion ($67 billion) in global sales---of only 1.5%. That is a pitifully low figure, and is a far cry from the 10% margin that Mr Idei promised by March 2007."

"Insiders from Sony's media businesses, who are naturally delighted by this week's sudden announcement, credit Sir Howard's low-key but results-driven style for this run of success. One of his boldest moves in media was to buy MGM, a famous studio with a much-coveted film library, in partnership with three private-equity firms and Comcast, a cable-television company. Sir Howard is believed to have wanted to buy more of MGM, but could not persuade his bosses in Tokyo to put up enough cash; in the end Sony paid only $300m of the $1.6 billion of equity financing that went into buying the studio."

"The cassette-playing Walkman, even though it was outrageously successful, did not help Sony prepare for the digital player. The Walkman was nothing but hardware, and surprisingly simple. The first one was built in 1979, when a Sony executive sent a request to the company's tape recorder unit to rig up a portable cassette player that could provide stereo sound but still be light enough for him to take along on international flights. A small team pulled out the recording mechanism and speaker of the company's monaural Pressman, a cassette recorder used by journalists, installed stereo circuitry and added earphones. It was ready in four days."

"The predigital Walkman evolved over the years into more than an astounding 1,120 models. But its essential nature remained unchanged: it was dumb hardware. When Apple Computer introduced the iPod in November 2001, Steve Jobs described his new player as "the 21st-century Walkman." With 98 years remaining in the century, that was an early call. But he was correct. The iPod in 2001 was a Walkman successor, but smarter, its hard drive easily navigated with well-designed software."

No doubt Sir Howard Stringer faces a gigantic task in the middle of a foreign corporate culture. If he succeeds the reward will be big...