TOKYO - Determined to break with its past, Sony Corp. tapped a foreigner as its chief executive today and vowed to turn around its lagging electronics sector by linking it with its entertainment businesses - a goal that has long eluded the company.

A native of Wales who later acquired U.S. citizenship, Howard Stringer, 63, has helped make Sony's music and movie business one of the Japanese company's few bright spots in recent years. He replaces Nobuyuki Idei, 67, who has led the Tokyo-based company for a decade.

The shake-up comes amid growing concern about whether Tokyo-based Sony can revive its electronics operations in the face of cheaper competition from Asian rivals.

Foreign executives at major Japanese companies are still extremely rare. The one exception has been Brazilian-born Carlos Ghosn, chief executive at Nissan Motor Co., who has become a hero here by reviving the automaker from near-collapse to growth in the past several years.

Stringer, vice chairman at Sony and chief executive of Sony Corp. of America, was chosen as chairman and chief executive by the board, subject to shareholders' approval in June. He speaks no Japanese.

Sony said Stringer will continue to live in New York and travel between the United States and Japan. He took U.S. citizenship in 1985, becoming a dual British-American national, according to Sony.