Sony has appointed senior vice president Hiroki Totoki as the new head of its mobile division in the hope of reviving its smartphone business, which has been struggling recently.

Totoki replaces incumbent Kunimasa Suzuki, on 16 November, who moves to become an executive vice president of Sony Entertainment.

Sony had initially set a target of hitting sales of 50 million smartphones by end-March 2015, which it revised to 43 million. It is now considering further reducing that figure “by several million units”.

In July the company announced a loss for its Mobile Communications business, which was attributed in part to increased marketing and R&D expenses in order to expand its sales channels and broaden its portfolio. It is now reversing that strategy.

A spokesman at Sony, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, said there was a priority to make the smartphone business profitable.

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai paid tribute to Totoki as someone with “a proven track record” making businesses profitable.

Totoki previously headed Sony Bank as well as Sony’s Internet-service provider business, So-net.