Thursday, August 28, 2003 - Ken Kutaragi, president and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, announced that Kazuo Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment America’s top executive, has been promoted to the position of chief executive officer.

A 19-year Sony veteran, Hirai played an instrumental role in launching and evolving the Playstation business in what has now become the company’s largest market, North America. Hirai was one of the minds behind the enormous success of the original Playstation platform, and continued his work with the introduction of the Playstation 2, that recently reached the 20-million unit sales milestone.

"I am pleased to announce Kaz's new appointment, as he is viewed as a well-respected leader throughout the company and within the gaming community," said Ken Kutaragi. "Kaz has been a key member of my strategic management group for many years, and his dedication and business acumen has helped the organization achieve and exceed business goals never before realized. Moving forward, Kaz and his team in North America will ready the market for further expansion and growth as we prepare to execute forthcoming corporate and product initiatives."