Sony to cut 10 000 jobs

TOKYO – Struggling electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Corp.yesterday said it would cut about seven per cent of its global work force as part of a new restructuring plan, and it slashed its full-year outlook.

The inventor of the Trinitron TV and Walkman is struggling to catch up with rivals Matsushita Electric Industrial and Sharp Corp. in flat televisions and Apple Computer’s iPod player in the portable music industry.Sony said it would book 210 billion yen in restructuring charges as it streamlined its operations, and it aimed to achieve a group operating profit margin of five per cent in the 2007/08 business year.The company said it now expected to post a group operating loss of 20 billion yen in the current business year to March due to an increase in restructuring charges.Sony’s previous estimate was for an operating profit of 30 billion yen.The long-awaited revival plan will be implemented by Howard Stringer and Ryoji Chubachi, who became chief executive and president of the world’s second-largest consumer electronics maker in a major overhaul of management in June.Sony has said it was considering further job cuts in its television unit as it closed production lines for traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) sets and shifted resources to fast-growing liquid-crystal display (LCD) and rear-projection TVs.Sony is in the final year of a three-year restructuring plan called “Transformation 60” under which it aims to cut fixed costs by 330 billion yen by rationalising production, streamlining procurement and slashing some 20 000 jobs.But revenues have been falling and profits have also declined.Sony has been investing aggressively in chips and other core parts such as LCD panels to achieve a vertically integrated production structure, although in many key product areas Sony is still far less efficient than its competitors.Sony is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in music, movies and finance, but the new restructuring plan will focus on reviving its core electronics division, which accounts for two-thirds of group revenues.- Nampa-Reutersin flat televisions and Apple Computer’s iPod player in the portable music industry.Sony said it would book 210 billion yen in restructuring charges as it streamlined its operations, and it aimed to achieve a group operating profit margin of five per cent in the 2007/08 business year.The company said it now expected to post a group operating loss of 20 billion yen in the current business year to March due to an increase in restructuring charges.Sony’s previous estimate was for an operating profit of 30 billion yen.The long-awaited revival plan will be implemented by Howard Stringer and Ryoji Chubachi, who became chief executive and president of the world’s second-largest consumer electronics maker in a major overhaul of management in June.Sony has said it was considering further job cuts in its television unit as it closed production lines for traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) sets and shifted resources to fast-growing liquid-crystal display (LCD) and rear-projection TVs.Sony is in the final year of a three-year restructuring plan called “Transformation 60” under which it aims to cut fixed costs by 330 billion yen by rationalising production, streamlining procurement and slashing some 20 000 jobs.But revenues have been falling and profits have also declined.Sony has been investing aggressively in chips and other core parts such as LCD panels to achieve a vertically integrated production structure, although in many key product areas Sony is still far less efficient than its competitors.Sony is a sprawling conglomerate with interests in music, movies and finance, but the new restructuring plan will focus on reviving its core electronics division, which accounts for two-thirds of group revenues.- Nampa-Reuters