As CEO, Stringer's initial focus was on streamlining Sony's electronics business, such as through its Bravia TV joint venture with Samsung. Stringer was instrumental in arranging Sony's investment in Spotify, which earned Sony a profit of nearly $1 billion upon Sony's partial exit in 2018. Nonetheless, Sony's stock price fell by 60 percent from when Stringer assumed the role of group chairman until his resignation as CEO was announced in 2012, due in part to exchange rates and the effects of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.