Hiroti Totoki, CEO Sony Mobile Communications

I'd like to take the opportunity to share some of my thoughts and vision for the company. We all know our recent history. To be frank, recently Sony Mobile has put out fantastic products, but we couldn't do so profitably. That is just a fact, and we are taking the necessary actions to respond. But I'm not here to talk about that today except to say that you cannot cost-cut your way to success. Instead, our success will come not just from optimizing our core smartphone business, but from new ideas, new business opportunities, and even new ways of working. So that no matter what changes we encounter, we will deliver products and services that excite and entertain, but do so with profit. We will minimize our business volatility in this highly volatile industry. How I see the industry today is that we are simply at the stage of an evolutionary process to create the best communication tool. For over a century, from when the telephone was invented, the best communication tool was voice only, stationary, and not personal. Then came mobile; it allowed for portability and personalization, and opened up other communication forms like text, emoji, and images—the first steps in instant communication that transcended words. At Sony, we have dedicated so much of ourselves to making the very best. We put the best in our smartphones. With the Xperia M4 Aqua, which we announced earlier this morning, we've created a new category we are calling the super mid-range that will bring the Sony experience to new customers. You'll hear more from Dennis in a moment. I'm very proud of what the creators of Sony Mobile have accomplished. But now we are at the point where delivering a better user experience means going beyond these and what is currently available in the market. We must redefine how products can enrich our lives with the communication possibilities that they create. And Sony Mobile has the innovators that will take these next steps—innovators who will help us to learn about the world, the people, places, and things that we care about, and share our thoughts and feelings with them. Innovators who will explore these aspects of communication in new ways across all of our senses. For example, consider the camera. These days we use our smartphone camera to log our lives, take notes, and share feelings. The photo has evolved from a way to record our personal experiences to a way we learn, share, and communicate. And that's just one example of how communications between people is evolving. There will be new evolution going forward between people, between human and machine, and even how machines communicate with each other. The best communication tools of tomorrow could include many of these evolutions, and they will be at the heart of our future devices. Our ability to discover and create these tools depends on two key assets: first, Sony's history of technological know-how and diverse business resources; and second, our venture spirit. I have spent much of my career driving new business for Sony, and that is where my greatest passion lies. Many Sony employees, especially our youngest members, are curious and have brilliant new ideas. So over the past 10 months, I have dedicated myself to a program that quickly brings their business ideas to life. Many of these ideas are outside of current business categories; they create new out-of-the-box business for us and also act as an engine of change for the entire company to think and act with the speed of a new venture. If we can harness these two processes, then I'm convinced that we will achieve our goals and deliver communication tools that will change how you interact with the world. There are skeptics, always. When I joined the team that would create Sony Bank, people said it couldn't be done. It only made us work harder, and we succeeded in creating Japan's first new bank in half a century, one known for its use of technology to create high customer satisfaction. Technology applied meaningfully can help create high customer satisfaction. This idea has been at the heart of my work every day, and that will continue at Sony Mobile. Now I'd like to invite Dennis van Schie to the stage to share some more details about what we are doing today to move toward our exciting tomorrow. Dennis is a man of passion and energy—so much energy that during his hectic business trip in Japan last week, he somehow found time to run the Tokyo Marathon.