Sony CEO Kaz Hirai will step down from his post on April 1, 2018—six years to the day after he first assumed the role . He will remain with the company as chairman, and the CEO seat will be filled by current CFO Kenichiro Yoshida.

Hirai is perhaps best known to the general public for his role in the PlayStation business, which is where the majority of his background with the company lies. He was involved in developing the PlayStation's software lineup in the late '90s, and Hirai famously unveiled the PlayStation 3 before he became CEO. That unveiling might better be described as infamous: he announced the console's launch models at the extremely steep prices of $499 and $599, leading to shock and ire in the gaming community. The cheaper of those two was almost a non-starter, lacking Wi-Fi and adequate hard drive storage.

That memorable blunder aside, investors in Sony have enjoyed significant gains in the six years since Hirai became CEO—though the company has only been regaining partial ground since it fell a long way from its peak back in 2000. He has kept Sony's efforts diversified across several markets and products, from computers to Hollywood movies.

But much of the company's success under Hirai can be attributed to two things: the PlayStation division (whose profits rose by 70 percent over the holidays) and image sensors that Sony produces and sells to other companies for inclusion in various devices. Other divisions, like mobile, were de-emphasized as Hirai and Yoshida worked together to get Sony's house in order.

Hirai was a champion of Sony's entertainment content efforts like Sony Pictures Entertainment to a degree that hasn't always been matched by other executives in the company. Those parts of Sony's business have weathered some rough times, but things were looking up in the last quarter.

However, Yoshida made few references to those businesses when addressing questions about his future strategy, according to Variety. His emphasis was mostly on the technology sector. "The top global companies now are all technology companies," he said. Perhaps those working in the Sony Pictures offices in Culver City, California might have reason to be concerned about the winds of change.

Analysts also remain concerned about Sony's troubled smartphone business, which was the only Sony division to lose money in the otherwise stellar second quarter last year. Yoshida was instrumental in stripping back that business to stop the bleeding. But the changes might not be complete, even though the financials are looking better despite a very small market share. Yoshida also played a significant role of the sale of Sony's Vaio computer business.

In other words, Yoshida made his mark on Sony by helping Hirai make tough calls to make major cuts to get the company on the right track. That effort is ongoing, so expect continuing changes with regards to both Sony's tech and entertainment products.