Sony Stock News: SNE Will Stop Selling PCs, Slash Jobs

by Christopher Freeburn | February 6, 2014 9:41 am

Struggling Japanese electronics giant Sony (SNE[1]) is restructuring[2] … again.

Sony 630[3]

On Wednesday, Sony withdrew previous guidance of a 30 billion yen annual profit and warned that it will post a 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion) loss for the fiscal year ending on Mar. 31., largely due to new restructuring costs. Sony said it would separate its money-losing TV business into wholly-owned subsidiary and will exit the personal computer market, Bloomberg notes.

The latest restructuring plan under CEO Kazuo Hirai will see Sony shed another 5,000 jobs.

Sony said its PC business would be acquired by Japan Industrial Partners.

Sony’s TV business is expected to lose 25 billion yen this year. That will mark the tenth consecutive year that Sony has lost money making TVs. Sony accounted for just 7.5% of global TV sales during the third quarter, down from 8.1% in the year-ago period. The continued slide in Sony TV sales has prompted some observers to suggest that Sony would be better off selling the TV unit along with its PC business[4].

Last year, Sony scored and electronics hit with its new PlayStation 4 gaming console, which saw strong sales after its November launch[5].

Previous restructuring efforts under Hirai saw Sony cut 10,000 jobs[6].

In Thursday morning trading, Sony stock fell more than 2% Over the past year, Sony stock has gained less than 1%.

Endnotes:

  1. SNE: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SNE
  2. is restructuring: http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-sony-losses-layoffs-selling-computer-business-20140205,0,5421713.story#axzz2sSRfPrcc
  3. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Sony_630.jpg
  4. Sony would be better off selling the TV unit along with its PC business: https://investorplace.com/2014/02/sne-sony-stock-vaio-xperia/#.UvOZpXlhOf0
  5. which saw strong sales after its November launch: https://investorplace.com/2013/12/sony-playstation-4-sales-top-2-1m/#.UvOd0HlhOf0
  6. saw Sony cut 10,000 jobs: https://investorplace.com/2012/04/sony-to-cut-10000-jobs-over-two-years-sources-say-sne-ntdoy-aapl/#.UvOeF3lhOf0

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2014/02/sony-stock-news-sne-will-stop-selling-pcs-slash-jobs/