Phil Molyneux Stepping Down As Sony COO

Sony announced today that Sony Electronics, Inc. COO and President Phil Molyneux is stepping down from his position to take a role to become a non executive chairman of the company. This is Sony’s US electronics business, based in the biggest region they have for consumer electronics

Michael Fasulo is taking Molyneux’s role as President, with Toshifumi Okuda acting as Deputy President. These changes will become effective come January 1, 2014. Fasulo was previously Molyneux’s Vice President and comes from a similar background, himself having been with Sony since 1984.

Phil Molyneux has worked with Sony for 27 years. In the years 1997 to 2007, he was stationed in the UK, and while he was there, Molyneux took a key role  expanding their electronics business from components to semiconductors and computer peripherals. As head of Sony Electronics since 2010, he was in charge of the marketing and sales of their consumer products line, including televisions, personal computers and professional cameras.  In his own words, Phil explains he never left Sony after all this time because they gave him the opportunity to innovate and create within the company.

Molyneux’s tenure as Sony Electronics COO was relatively short at three years, and he was never quite directly connected with Playstation, compared to, say Shuhei Yoshida, or even his boss, Kazuo Hirai. Of course, he helped cement Sony’s brand in the US, and that included Playstation, although he was always more concerned with their other products, such as TVs and smartphones. Molyneux’s retirement may simply be a matter of it being the right time to do so, although it is at least a good sign that Sony is willing to enact some changes within the company.

Image is of Molyneux from Sony CES 2013.