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Job cull at Sony

February 6, 2014

Japanese electronics heavyweight Sony has said it will have to slash thousands of jobs to adapt to new market realities and enhance profitability. It also announced it would stop developing and producing its Vaio PCs.

https://p.dw.com/p/1B3Vp
Sony logo on the facade of the firm's HQ
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Plagued by a sluggish TV and PC business, Sony reported Thursday it would cut 5,000 jobs in the two divisions. It said the layoffs would be implemented by March 2015.

The company pointed to rising restructuring costs and massive problems in the mobile and home entertainment segments. It now forecast a net loss of 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion, 813 million euros) in its fiscal year ending in March. It had previously expected bottom-line earnings of 30 billion yen.

Sony confirmed media reports it would sell its Vaio PC division to Japan Industrial Partners, which will reportedly set up a separate company to take over operations while keeping the brand name alive.

Shock therapy

"We will cease planning, design and development of PC products completely," Sony said in a statement.

Sony im Aufwind

On top of that, the electronics giant announced its TV operations would be spun off into a separate unit by July of this year.

Sony's television business piled up losses of $7.5 billion in the previous nine fiscal years, with an annual operating profit last seen in the 12 months ending March 2004.

hg/tj (Reuters, AFP)