Sony Corp is the latest Japanese giant to announce major restructuring, and yesterday said it would cut 10% of its workforce in order to cut costs. About one-fifth of the company’s factories are to be closed down over the next four years. Around 17,000 jobs are expected to be cut, mostly by attrition, by March 2003. The majority of the cuts will be in Sony’s domestic Japanese markets.
Sony said it plans to make its Playstation business – which now accounts for roughly 35% of its profits – one of its core electronics businesses. It plans to reorganize the 10 independent units it currently runs into just four. Key areas will be home networking, mobile devices and computer entertainment. The new PlayStation goes on sale next month.
