During the course of his Friday speech at the Japan Society in New York, Sony board's Chairman Howard Stringer - who became the company's first non-Japanese CEO, when he assumed charge in 2005 - said that he will retire from his post in June this year.

71-year-old Stringer's announcement, that he will step down at Sony's annual shareholder meeting, was confirmed by Sony on Sunday.

Stringer, a Welsh-born American, has had a 15-year stint at Sony; and he was appointed the President and CEO of the company in 2005, at a time when the once glorious company was divided and was virtually struggling to keep together.

With Sony still continuing to be a beleaguered company, witnessing losses for the past four years - the loss recorded by the company in the fiscal that ended in March 2012 being the biggest loss in its 67-year history -, Kazuo Hirai replaced Stringer as the CEO a year back.

About handing over Sony's reins to Hirai, Stringer - who plans to do charity work in education and medicine after retirement - said that Hirai had the "right mix of skills to lead Sony," and added that the change at the company's helm last year was "the right time to bring about generational change."

Stringer further said in his speech: "Over the course of the past year, he (Hirai) has come into his own and is leading Sony with vision and authority."