(Reuters) - Sony Corp said on Thursday it would appoint senior vice president Hiroki Totoki as the new president of Sony Mobile Communications on Nov. 16, replacing Kunimasa Suzuki at the top of its troubled smartphone business.
Totoki is currently serving as corporate planning director after Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai pulled him back from a subsidiary to headquarters as one of his closest confidantes along with Kenichiro Yoshida, chief financial officer.
Slow sales of Sony's Xperia smartphones have weighed on the company's flagship electronics division, prompting it to cut its sales forecast once this year and sparking media reports that it will do so again when it announces results on Friday.
(Reporting by Sophie Knight; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
