Ever since Kaz Hirai became Sony's CEO last year, he's been focused on redirecting the company towards three main areas: mobile, video games, and medical technology.
In keeping with this newfound focus, we did see the company try to make some noise in the mobile space at this year's International CES. The waterproof Xperia Z and its younger brother Xperia ZL grabbed some attention, but a couple of outlets were able to get Hirai to comment on some other industries as well.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Hirai admitted that sales for the PlayStation Vita handheld are near the lower end of company expectations (read: disappointing), although he was quick to add that the success or failure of the system can't be judged for 5-10 years. "Long term is what is important," he emphasized.
Sticking with video games, PC World reported that Hirai wasn't taken off guard by the announcement of Project Shield by NVIDIA, a portable gaming system that blends controller and HD screen together.
"I wasn't as surprised as you might think. If you look back through the pages of history, there have been other attempts." He went on to add, "It's difficult to break into. I've managed this industry, so I know."
Sony has had significant hurdles to overcome in the portable sector specifically, where both its PlayStation Portable and Vita struggled to gain traction against the likes of smartphones and Nintendo's DS. The company doesn't even break apart sales numbers by console anymore, choosing instead to report them all together under the PSP label. Hirai recently turned around Sony's PlayStation 3 business by returning the console to profitability.
The Sony honcho's words echo what Microsoft (and former Sony) executive Phil Harrison had to say regarding Valve's new hardware that can play Steam games on HDTVs.
"Entering the hardware business is a really tough business, "said Harrison. "You have to have great fortitude to be in the hardware business and you have to have deep pockets and a very strong balance sheet. It's not possible for every new hardware entrant to get to scale."
