Sony Corp's heir apparent will make a rare appearance at the Japanese firm's earnings conference on Wednesday, raising hopes the once-stellar brand is at last getting to grips with its struggling TV business and can challenge smartphone rivals. Kazuo Hirai, who heads Sony's consumer businesses and is seen as the most likely candidate to succeed Welsh-born Howard Stringer as president, needs to earn his stripes by guiding the company through a much-needed change. The top priority is to rid Sony of crippling losses in its TV business, something Sony said in August it was tackling, and convince investors that its plans to shift focus to the mobile business will revive profits. Their past strategy didn't work out, so now they are having to go back to the drawing board and start again, said Yuuki Sakurai, CEO of Fukoku Asset Management in Tokyo. To be honest, they seem to be drifting.