JAPAN: New Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai says the electronics giants has to 'change', announcing lay-offs in the thousands as the electronics giant strives to move forward

Record ID: 451683

  • Title: JAPAN: New Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai says the electronics giants has to 'change', announcing lay-offs in the thousands as the electronics giant strives to move forward
  • Date: 13th April 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (APRIL 12, 2012) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) SONY CORPORATION HEADQUARTERS BUILDING SONY SIGN JAPANESE AND SONY FLAGS OUTSIDE OF SONY HEADQUARTERS (SOUNDBITE) (JAPANESE) SONY CORPORATION CEO KAZUO HIRAI SAYING: "Sony has no choice but to change immediately. Since becoming the CEO of Sony, multitudes of voices including stakeholders, investors, stockholders, members of the media and so forth, have been calling for change, encouraging change, and we have heard you." SONY MEDIA CONFERENCE HALL MEDIA TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (JAPANESE) SONY CORPORATION CEO KAZUO HIRAI SAYING: "In 2012, overall, the Sony group has plans to lay-off 10,000 employees worldwide." SONY SIGN HIRAI AND BOARD MEMBERS POSING FOR MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Industry,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVAC9T9ADBJE3P9ZXQL82NQPKBOS
  • Story Text: Less than a fortnight into his job as CEO, Kazuo Hirai on Thursday (April 12) sketched out a revival strategy for Sony Corp built around mobile electronics - phones, games and cameras - and a medical business with annual sales of 1.2 billion US dollars.
    Hirai, who took over from Howard Stringer this month, has doubled Sony's annual loss forecast to a record 6.4 billion US dollars, and is under intense pressure to fix an ailing TV business and turn around a brand that has been trampled by Apple Inc and South Korea's Samsung Electronics.
    "Sony has no choice but to change immediately. Since becoming the CEO of Sony, multitudes of voices including stakeholders, investors, stockholders, members of the media and so forth have been calling for change, encouraging change, and we have heard you," Hirai told a packed news conference at Sony's Tokyo headquarters.
    Sony, and other leading Japanese TV makers Sharp Corp and Panasonic Corp have been battered by weak demand, fierce competition and a stronger yen that makes exports less competitive.
    Sony confirmed earlier media reports that it will cut around 10,000 jobs - 6 percent of its global workforce - and take a 75 billion yen (926 million US dollars) restructuring charge in the current business year to next March.
    "In 2012, overall the Sony group has plans to lay-off 10,000 employees worldwide," Hirai said.
    The latest job cuts follow two rounds of layoffs Stringer made in his six-year tenure at Sony.
    Sony, Sharp, and Panasonic expect a combined loss for the year just ended of 21 billion US dollars - more than Sony's entire market value, which has slumped by close to a fifth in the past month.
    Samsung is 10 times more valuable, while Apple, which Sony executives considered buying in the early 1990s, is worth 30 Sony's.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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