TOKYO -- In the wake of gut-wrenching financial losses, Panasonic will cut its consumer electronics groups and reconsider several other business units, the company's president said.

Panasonic is expected to lose $9.6 billion its fiscal year ending next March due to poor sales of TVs and other consumer items and restructuring charges.

The electronics giant, Japan's largest private employeer, already lost $15 billion in the 2008-2011 fiscal years.

New Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga said cuts are looking in business units ranging from TVs to mobile phones to energy products such as solar panels and batteries.

"It's unfortunate, but we are among the losers in consumer electronics," he told a news conference.

It's unclear what this means for Panasonic Factory Solutions, the company's electronics assembly equipment unit, which develops SMT process equipment ranging from screen printers to placement machines to AOI.

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