CEO Kazuo Hirai cautioned on Wednesday that Sony is "still at the starting stage" of evaluating the spin-off proposal, and Loeb faces an uphill climb in forcing reforms on a company (and a country) that is notoriously resistant to change. But even if he succeeds, rescuing Sony will require more than financial maneuvers and corporate reorganizations. If Loeb's proposal is going to enable the rebirth of Sony, rather than its dismemberment, the company will eventually have to create a world-changing product that no one—except perhaps an unknown genius in a Sony research lab—has thought of yet.