TOKYO -- Sony's new CEO didn't wait long to shake up the company, as the consumer electronics giant announced plans to close 11 factories and cut 10,000 jobs from its electronics business.

Howard Stringer, the media executive whom Sony hired to revitalize its listing electronics business, said the cuts will save $1.8 billion in costs by the end of fiscal 2007. The company revised downward its forecast for the fiscal year ending in March to a net loss of $89.8 million.

Sony set a goal of consolidated sales of about $72 billion and an operating profit margin of 5%. The electronics group is expected to reach 4% during that timeframe.

The company will take restructuring charges of $1.3 billion this year, more than half due to the just-announced layoffs. The layoffs will be spread over three years and amount to about 6.5% of its global workforce.

The electronics group will be reorganized, Sony said, into newly-defined business groups, with centralized decision-making authority over key areas under the group CEO.

• Prev
• Next