Anime and ‘The Last of Us’ are transforming Sony’s business

© FT montage/HBO/WarnerMedia/Everett Collection/Ufotable/Alamy If your world revolves around the fate of Joel, Ellie and the Fireflies, it probably means one of two things: either you are addicted to the post-apocalyptic television series The Last of Us or you are a financial analyst with a “buy” rating on Sony. Either way, there are nail-biting weeks ahead, especially for chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki who will officially be put on track to head the Japanese group when he takes over as president this spring. For long-term Sony watchers, The Last of Us symbolises the culmination of a decade-long metamorphosis. It is a corporate transformation carried out under two successive chief executives and set to be entrusted to a third, with Hiroki’s promotion seen as the latest step before he eventually inherits the top job. This process, which veteran Sony analyst David Gibson at MST Financial describes as “remarkable”, has steadily converted Japan’s best-known consumer electronics brand into a less well understood blend of specialist hardware-maker and international media giant. “It has focused on being really good at a few things, rather than trying to be average at a lot of things,” said Gibson. It is the focus on the media […]

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