Sir Howard Stringer, Sony?s new chief executive, has a hard act to follow. As only the second foreigner to head a world-famous Japanese company, Sir Howard he has to put up with constant comparison to Carlos Ghosn, the Renault chief, who has became something of a national hero in Japan for bringing the country?s second largest car maker, Nissan back from the brink. After taking over in June, Sir Howard who took faces his first big test on Thursday when he presents Sony?s new a three-year mid-term strategy for Sony ? which will be his answer to the group?s sagging performance in its core consumer electronics market.

Unless If the programme plan Sir Howard unveils will outline in at Tokyo ?s swanky Grand Hyatt Hotel falls short of meets investor expectations, Sony is likely to suffer another serious the company risks a blow to its reputation and , not to mention its share price along the lines of what happened. The repercussions could be another ?the ?Sony shock? of two-and-a-half years ago, when Sony it announced unexpectedly weak earnings. low operating profits in the last quarter of fiscal 2002 and saw its share price lose the maximum amount allowed in one day by Tokyo Stock Exchange rules. To avoid a similar fate, Sir Howard must present a clear and convincing programme for turning Sony?s consumer electronics businesses into profit drivers again. For the past few years, Sony has failed to make profits in Its consumer electronics division , which is forecast to post heading for a third year of operating losses in the year to next March and . As a result of the poor performance of its consumer electronics businesses, Sony surprised the investment community shareholders again in July by slashing its forecast for revising down its full-year group operating profits by as much as more than 80 per cent, to Y30bn ($270m, ?150m, ?220m) from Y160bn. That e latest downward revision confirmed fears that Sony?s problems ran deeper than it had admitted in the past and that it will would take some time for management to turn things around.