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| Sir Howard Stringer |
The man seen as a potential successor, Kazuo Hirai, who led the development of the networked business until his promotion in March, is also facing questions about his handling of the affair and the company's security.
"The way Sony handled the whole thing goes to show that it lacks the ability to manage crises," said Michael On, a fund manager at Beyond Asset Management in Taipei. "The current chief executive should step down after the hacker problems and the company's failure to push out products that are competitive."
On's fund does not hold Sony shares, which will lessen some of the leverage on Stringer. But the company has been outmaneouvred by hackers who broke into its PlayStation Network (PSN) with 77m and Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) networks, with about 25m credit card accounts.
It is unclear whether the same person or group was behind both attacks. Sony said that the SOE was attacked first, on 16 or 17 Apri, and then the PSN. Both attacks appear to be the work of highly organised people with detailed knowledge of the system they were breaking into.
The SOE breach may also have led to the theft of 10,700 direct debit records from customers in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and 12,700 non-US credit or debit card numbers
Investors said Sony had botched the data security crisis, a further blow for the company, which has struggled to match recent hit products from rivals including Nintendo, Samsung and Apple.
Stringer, a 69-year-old former TV producer who was knighted in 2000, has not commented on the security breach, leaving Hirai, who is now the company's deputy, to lead a news conference and apology on Sunday. Stringer in March committed to stay in his role for the current year at least.
Hirai may not escape the fiasco unscathed, said another Taipei-based fund manager, who sold Sony shares last year and was not authorised to talk publicly about the company: "The leadership of Sony is not in a good place right now, which could lead to Stringer stepping down and may sabotage Hirai's chances of succeeding as chief executive."
