Sony cooperates on convergence

Once a content guy, always a content guy.

In 1997, veteran broadcast industry executive Howard Stringer capped a 30-year career by taking on the challenge of a lifetime and moving to Sony. His job was to persuade Sony's famously fractious US entertainment and electronics businesses to put aside the internal politics and do a better job of cooperating.

Sony wanted to make the most of its unique position as both a content and hardware company, but corporate rivalries had slowed down its ambitions.

On paper, the task seemed easy enough. Besides, Stringer was given the official authority to make things happen when he was later appointed CEO of Sony Corporation of America -- head of all Sony's efforts in the United States, including movies, music and electronics.

For the longest time, Stringer, who is also vice-chairman of Tokyo-based Sony, found it difficult to playing peacemaker between warring factions. He had to carefully navigate the varying entrenched interests within Sony's notoriously byzantine empire.

But Stringer's labours are finally bearing fruit. He also received unexpected help from a rival's smashing success. When sales of Apple's iPod music player took off, it provided a concrete demonstration to the troops of the advantages that accrue when the content and hardware parts of a business decide to cooperate.

The various businesses within Sony are working toward a common goal, according to Stringer. That shared vision couldn't come at a better time: the conglomerate has been struggling and losing ground to up-and-comers in all of its key businesses.

CNET News.com caught up with Stringer at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, where he shared his thoughts on how the iPod has affected Sony, his convergence strategy, video distribution and blogs.

Q: When you first got to Sony, your role was described as a diplomat between the various Sony businesses. How has the relationship between those businesses changed since you've been there?
A: When I got there, I was not in charge of the operating companies. I was given strategic responsibility for them, but they were all reporting directly to Tokyo. I was balancing and trying to maintain relationships with the operating companies to encourage and stimulate them to proceed in a particular direction and to be prepared for the digital future. Gradually, one by one, Tokyo gave me responsibility for the companies until four years ago, when they gave me the job of chief executive officer of three of them.

In the last year and a half, building a relationship between content and devices has taken on a new urgency as a part of Sony's convergence strategy.