Miles Flint, president of Sony Ericsson, has stepped down to spend more time with his money; to be replaced by Dick Komiyama, current chairman of the board at Sony Electronics, USA.

When Flint took the helm at SE, in June 2004, the company had sold 27.2 million units during the previous year, compared to the 74.8 million it managed in 2006: making it the world's fourth-largest phone manufacturer. He oversaw the reintroduction of the Walkman brand to mobiles and used Sony's Cyber-shot brand to legitimise camera phones.

He's going to hang around until the end of the year to help the company's transition to Komiyama, who takes up the role of president on November 1st.

According to a statement, Flint is then going to "take a short career break" before going on to "develop new personal and business opportunities". Given what he's achieved at SE, it's hard to imagine an appropriate challenge, and Mr. Komiyama is going to find him a hard act to follow.

Related stories

• Sony Ericsson feels margins pinch (17 October 2007)
• Sony Ericsson profits fall on cheaper phones (11 October 2007)
• Sony Ericsson slides out K770 mobile camera phone (14 August 2007)
• Sony Ericsson dials up revenue and profits jump (13 July 2007)
• Firmware snub: Sony Ericsson relents (5 July 2007)
• Sony Ericsson leaves smartphone sufferers spitting (28 June 2007)
• Sony Ericsson shows shake-to-shuffle Walkman phone (15 June 2007)
• Sony Ericsson intros 5Mp Cyber-shot phone (15 June 2007)