Sony’s Former Chief, Who Pushed Content but Missed iPod Wave, Dies at 84

Then Sony Corp. chief corporate adviser Nobuyuki Idei, is seen in Tokyo on Oct. 17, 2005. (AP)

Nobuyuki Idei, the urbane former chief executive of Sony Group Corp, who spearheaded the Japanese conglomerate's push into content but missed the shift to MP3s that led to the iPod, died on June 2, the company said on Tuesday.

Idei, who was 84, took the helm in 1995 to drive Sony into entertainment from hardware, but under his leadership the company behind the Walkman was slow to embrace MP3s and flat-panel TVs.