[opendtv] News: Sony to Cut 8,000 Jobs
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 07:22:11 -0500
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/business-sony.html?th&emc=th
Sony to Cut 8,000 Jobs
By REUTERS
Published: December 9, 2008
Filed at 2:38 a.m. ET
TOKYO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Sony (NYSE:SNE) Corp said it will
slash about 4 percent of its workforce, scale back investments and
pull out of businesses as it aims to cut $1.1 billion in costs out of
its ailing electronics operations.
The 8,000 job cuts -- the biggest announced by an Asian firm so far
in the financial crisis -- and other restructuring steps underscore
challenges facing Sony, which has fallen well behind Apple Inc's iPod
in portable music and is struggling to make money on flat panel TVs.
Analysts questioned if it would be enough for Sony, which employs
about 186,000 people worldwide in businesses ranging from movie
making to video games.
"The number sounds big, but this staff reduction won't be enough.
Sony doesn't have any core businesses that generate stable profits,"
said Katsuhiko Mori, a fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
"After the workforce reduction, the next thing we want to see is what
is going to be the business that will drive the company."
Shares in Sony, which have fallen nearly 70 percent this year, closed
up 3.9 percent at 1,896 yen ahead of the announcement.
The restructuring marks a major setback for Chief Executive Howard
Stringer, who had seemed to have the electronics and entertainment
conglomerate back on track after implementing a wide-ranging
restructuring after taking the helm in 2005.
Like rivals Samsung, Panasonic and just about every other big
consumer goods firm, Sony faces a bleak Christmas shopping season as
the financial crisis grows into a broad recession that has already
engulfed the United States, parts of Europe and its home market in
Japan.
YEN HURTS TOO
Sony, along with other Japanese manufacturers, has also been hit hard
by a surging yen, with the currency's rise to 13 year highs this year
cutting into the value of its earnings and making its products less
competitive in overseas markets.
The maker of Bravia flat TVs and PlayStation 3 video game consoles,
said in October when it more than halved its annual operating profit
forecast that it would need to close some plants, reduce capital
spending and lay off workers.
Hiroaki Osakabe, fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management, said the
restructuring was unlikely to trigger a share rally.
"The scheme doesn't contain anything new, like a new earnings pillar
or a growth strategy. It was something that people had expected, and
I think the market had already discounted the announcement," he said.
Sony said it would delay plans to boost output for liquid crystal
display TVs in Slovakia, outsource production of image sensor
semiconductors, and reduce the number of manufacturing sites by about
10 percent from the current 57.
It aims to cut investment in its electronics business by 30 percent
in the next business year to March 2010 compared with a previous
business plan.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] News: Sony to Cut 8,000 Jobs - Craig Birkmaier
