Sony has officially revealed its restructuring plans, with the announcement of 10,000 job losses and major changes to its television portfolio.
News leaked earlier this week that Sony was to shed 10,000 jobs and in a press conference today Sony CEO Kaz Hirai confirmed that this was the case and with it the promise that "Sony will change".
The mix of weak demand, a vibrant Korean market, and strong yen (which puts exports into a bit of a mess) has put Sony and the rest of the Japanese technology market into something of a downwards spiral.
Sony's own reports that it is set to lose around £4 billion for 2011 showcased this, and this is why Hirai announced significant changes at a press conference in Sony's headquarters in Tokyo today.
Game on
In all Sony is set to lose 6 per cent of its global workforce and will put more focus into three areas: gaming, mobile devices and digital imaging.
On the gaming side of things, Sony explained that it will be pushing more downloadable titles out through the PSN and will expand the phones and tablets that are compatible with the PlayStation Suite.
Mobile phones wise, it will: "launch new mobile products and establish new business models".
While Sony was quiet about its plans for digital imaging, it did hint at trying to tap into the rather lucrative medical side of things.
TV talk
The big thing missing in this triumvirate is TVs. This is because Sony will downsize this sector by 40 per cent by 2013.
It's not all bad news, though, Sony is still set to innovate and is focusing its efforts on the future of TV. In a press release it explained that it "intends to advance the development and commercialization of next-generation display technologies such as OLED and Crystal LED Display." It also noted that it intends to expand on its 4K portfolio.
The cost of this restructuring, according to Hirai, is around £581 million ($926 million) which is actually less than some analysts had predicted.
