• Business Week, Friday, December 1, 2006 11:15 AM

Sony Computer Entertainment yesterday took away day-to-day oversight of its video-games division from Ken Kutaragi, who built the games division from scratch. While Kutaragi retains the title of division CEO and will also assume the chairman's post, daily management of the unit was handed to his deputy in the U.S.: Kaz Hirai. He was named president.

Sony's move suggests Kutaragi's authority might be shaky. But Sony officials denied that the moves were anything other than a promotion in the management ranks.

With Sony's factories now briskly turning out new PS3's, Sony's biggest concern is figuring out how to make sure the console lives up to its billing as an Internet-linked supercomputer and digital server for the living room. A lot rests on how the company leverages the speedy Cell microprocessor, which was developed jointly with Toshiba and IBM.

Read the whole story at Business Week »