Struggling electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony is to cut about 7 per cent of its global work force as part of a new restructuring plan, and it slashed its full-year outlook.
The inventor of the Trinitron TV and Walkman is struggling to catch up with rivals Matsushita Electric Industrial and Sharp in flat televisions and Apple Computer's iPod player in the portable music industry.
Sony said it would book 210 billion yen ($1.89 billion) in restructuring charges as it streamlined its operations, and it aimed to achieve a group operating profit margin of 5 per cent in the 2007/08 business year.
The company said it now expected to post a group operating loss of 20 billion yen in the current business year to March due to an increase in restructuring charges. Sony's previous estimate was for an operating profit of 30 billion yen.
The long-awaited revival plan will be implemented by Howard Stringer and Ryoji Chubachi, who became chief executive and president of the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker in a major overhaul of management in June.
Sony has said it was considering further job cuts in its television unit as it closed production lines for traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) sets and shifted resources to fast-growing liquid crystal display (LCD) and rear-projection TVs.
Sony is in the final year of a three-year restructuring plan called "Transformation 60" under which it aims to cut fixed costs by 330 billion yen by rationalising production, streamlinng procurement and slashing some 20,000 jobs.
But revenues have been falling, hit by steep price drops and weakening demand for ageing products such as CRT TVs and CD Walkmans in which Sony has a relatively high market share. Profits have also declined.