Sony loses $1 billion, will close 3 plants in Japan
The Associated Press
2:43 AM PDT, May 14, 2009


TOKYO -- Sony Corp. said today that it lost $1 billion in the fiscal year through March, its first annual net loss in 14 years, and projected that it would lose even more money this year amid a slump in consumer demand for electronics goods.

Sony, which makes Bravia flat-panel TVs and Cyber-shot digital cameras, also said it is closing three plants in Japan this year to help turn its business around. That brings the total number of factories it is closing globally to eight by the end of March 2010. It is also in the midst of cutting 16,000 workers from its payrolls.


Hit by dropping sales and the strong yen, Sony lost $1.73 billion in the January-March quarter, compared to a $303.6-million profit for the same period the previous year.

Sony joins a string of other big Japanese corporate names, including Toyota Motor Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., that have announced huge losses and bleak outlooks.

Analysts say Sony's Chief Executive Howard Stringer, who decided to center power in his position earlier this year by also becoming president, has yet to give details of a turnaround plan, including strategies and products.


Stringer, a Welsh-born American and the first foreigner to head Sony, has promoted four relatively young Japanese executives onto his managerial team. Representing the company's gaming and electronics sectors, they aim to take advantage of Sony's sprawling empire to differentiate it from a host of rivals such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan's Acer Inc., which are better at producing cheaper products.

The fiscal year loss, while big, was better than Sony's forecast for a $1.6-billion shortfall. Sony said the result wasn't as bad partly because TV prices held up better than expected. A one-time gain from a change in Japanese tax laws also helped, it said.

But the electronics and entertainment company said no quick recovery was in sight, projecting a $1.2-billion loss for the fiscal year through March 2010.

Sony continued to lose money in its game segment, where its PlayStation 3 home console and PlayStation Portable have struggled against rival offerings from Nintendo Co., the Wii and DS, as well as in some markets against the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp.

The results for the fiscal year through March were a reversal from the $3.87-billion profit Sony recorded a year earlier. Annual sales slid 12.9% to $80.9 billion, it said.

Sales for the fiscal year fell in all key markets: down 20% in the U.S., 17% in Europe and 14% in Japan.

Sony is closing three plants in Japan by the end of December -- one for cell-phone cameras, another for video recorder parts and another for systems used for smart cards. After they are shuttered, the number of plants around the world will dwindle from 57 last year to 49.

The company said it was on track with its previously announced plan to reduce 8,000 of its 185,000 jobs around the world, and trim another 8,000 temporary workers who aren't included in the global work force tally.

Sony stock dropped 6.8% to 2,400 yen ($25.12) in Tokyo. Earnings were announced after trading ended.

all i can say is

























get ready for the big hog roast.





































GET READY FOR THE BIG HOG ROAST

Does this mean no more Playstation?

They need to make an media player that isn't just as good as the iPod, but as good looking as the iPod, and push that shit constantly. Maybe even work out a deal with Apple to make a certain part of their music library available to owners of the player. something

The playstation 3 will keep dropping in value so the sales of that are destine to pickup.


And they need to push their ebook reader harder to. I saw it last year and really liked it, but it needed a few more features (like wireless download) for me to consider it over kindel.


Sony is a very innovative, powerful, über rich company. They have the resources to turn this thing around easily and force Apple to constantly try to stay ahead. Microsoft, at this point, is doing a better job with it's product, if only through their promotional machine.



Also, Sony laptops are great, considering their crippled by having to run the Micrsoft OS and not OS-X
But if I were forced to, under extreme duress, to buy a laptop with Vista on it, I'd definitely be looking at Sony laptops.

Perhaps they should re-introduce the Walkman ?

it means were getting ready to down-size the human population across the globe

Cuddles said:

it's coming.

sinisterpentatonic said:

the big hog roast

GET READY FOR THE BIG HOG ROAST













Its gonna be a HUGE one







there are so many to roast, all us little piggy's




















SQUEAL!!!






REEEEET!!! REEET!!

the r&d will flourish.

I have bought a few Sony things recently, cd players, speakers, receiver/amp, and I'm not thrilled with any of them.

The speakers particularly suck.