This article was published on April 12, 2012

Sony aims to become ‘One’, will fire 10,000 workers and spend $926m on restructuring


Sony aims to become ‘One’, will fire 10,000 workers and spend $926m on restructuring

Struggling Japanese electronics giant Sony‘s new management team has laid out its plans to reinvigorate the company’s businesses and look for growth in other and new markets.

Under the header ‘One Sony’, it will start by laying off 10,000 employees – as reported by Reuters earlier – and projects to spend 75 billion yen (roughly $926 million) on restructuring in fiscal year 2012, which ends March 31, 2013.

We should point out, however, that the job cuts also include employees expected to transfer to external companies as part of the sale of businesses and other ‘realignments’. Not that it makes the lay-offs a positive thing, but noteworthy.

Yesterday, the company announced that it expects a massive $6.4 billion net loss for the full year ended March 31, 2012.

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This morning, the company followed up by outlining a series of strategic initiatives to stabilize and grow its businesses. This includes investments in the strengthening of Sony’s core businesses (gaming, digital imaging and mobile) and turning around its television business.

The company says it has already transferred (or is in negotiations to transfer) its small- and medium-sized display and chemical products businesses to other parties.

Other ‘One Sony’ initiatives include a clear focus on emerging markets such as India and Mexico for expansion and to create new businesses, specifically related to medical technology as well as “4K”-related technologies, which it says delivers more than four times the resolution of Full HD.

Sony targets sales of 6 trillion yen (approximately $74 billion) for its electronics business, and sales of 8.5 trillion yen (about $105 billion) for the Sony Group overall, in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2015.

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