According to a new report, Sony is planning to eliminate another 1,000 jobs from its mobile division. This move would be part of a restructuring effort that saw the company initially cut 1,000 jobs late last year.
The report, which comes from Reuters citing Japanese newspaper Nikkei Business Daily, also notes that Sony's workforce will shrink by a significant margin in the coming months:
Overall, Sony's mobile division workforce will shrink by about 30 percent to 5,000 by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2016, the report said.
Sony has recently faced increasing pressure in the mobile market from fierce competition with Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, which are able to offer up devices at relatively low prices. As a result, the company's CEO, Kazou Hirai, stated last September that it will begin focusing its efforts on the high-end segment and breaking further into the U.S. market.
Sony is expected to announce the job cuts during its earnings report on February 4.
Source: Reuters
Reader comments
Sony reportedly set to cut another 1,000 jobs from its mobile division
Maybe they can now get back to the basics.
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Dayum
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If I can get a Z4 compact on my carrier then I'd be good to go.
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I just bought one from Sony US online. I'm using it on T-Mobile.
Best phone on the market, my opinion.
I cannot kill this battery in a day. Nice light skin on android. Perfect size.
Killer phone.
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I think the 12 year saga of Sony-Ericsson is coming to a close. I think Sony can continue to make apps and support Android, and put the OS into all sorts of devices but they need to stop making Android phones and tablets. The rise of LG and the resurgence of Motorola has pushed them out.
No, their refusal to recognize the North American market has pushed them out. They are effectively limiting their sales to only 2/3 of the world, then they sit back and say "if we could only reach more customers...."
Motorola hasn't put a dent anymore than HTC did in Sony or any manufacturers sales. The only noticeable impact they're making is primarily in India and Brazil, two markets that Sony tends to ignore in terms of focus.
Now LG is arguable.
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If they would just expand their market to North America these cuts wouldn't be necessary....how fucking retarded are they????
Ah Sony. Still charging premium pricing for unpremium handsets. It's hard to justify the cost when the competitors do things better. What is the premium for? I was thinking it was for the awesome Walkman audio experience, but others whoop that A$$ in the audio area. Maybe the speakers.. again, whooped. Build quality? Don't really consider glass to be...uh... sturdy. Vibrant Screen? Nah, we already know who wins that area. Oh, I know, it's looks isn't it? It's gotta be...
Build quality beats the living sh!t out of any other OEM in existence....hands down.
I agree .
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You obviously haven't met DJCBS. He'll beg to differ. Personally, build quality to me is 2 things...standing up to abuse and innards. I would disagree with you on the abuse part. But Sony has a history of making good electronics, so I'd imagine it's aight on that front.
My 4 year old xperia x10 is still ticking away and looks just as good as it did when I retired it as my daily handset....show me another device that can do that. Sony is best-known for one thing: build quality. Anyone who says their hardware can't hold up is a damn fool.
Btw, the word is ALRIGHT. I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who uses made-up words and writes them phonetically as if they're real.
You obviously have never held or used an Xperia phone.
Best screen, build quality is beautiful, very light skin on Android and some killer apps.
Sony makes quality stuff. Their high end stuff and even mid range electronics are quality and last years.
Bad marketing in the US is all it is.
Posted via the Android Central App on my Xperia Z3 Compact
Does the Xperia Play count? If not, then I guess you're correct.
"Best screen, build quality is beautiful, and some killer apps. "
All that stuff is subjective. Even if I agreed with you on all points, it's all the same. It's just an opinion with no facts to back it up.
I was looking to get one (Z2) myself actually, mainly because I used to have a Walkman and thought it would be a pretty good music player. But as it turns out, the audio out quality isn't as great as on other phones per GSMARENA. So, there went that idea.
On another note, I'm not too fond of having the back plate glued to the phone. I feel like if you leave your phone in your car on a hot summer day, that thing will just come off.
So you won't take one person's opinion because you say it's subjective, but you listen to another opinion, which is just as subjective....what a foolproof method!!
It's not subjective if they have data to back it up and equipment to test it. They test dB and all that good stuff. Those guys have very detailed reviews and comparisons. Obviously since my main reason for getting that phone was music, I was going to check out reviews on how well it does that. If it doesn't excel in the area I want it for, what good is it to me?
Anyways, it is my OPINION that I would not be getting MY money's worth by getting an Xperia Phone. Therefore that idea flew out the window. I have an affinity towards Sony products, just not a blinding one.
Start with cutting the Xperia care department as it's useless. If you have any issue whatsoever, their support is the exact same:
1) boot into safe mode and see if the problem still exists.
2) if it does, perform a factory reset.
3) if that still doesn't fix your issue, perform a software repair via pc companion.
4) if that doesn't fix it, send it in for repairs.
Those steps are identical regardless of the issue you may be experiencing. Nobody from Sony actually tries to troubleshoot issues. They could axe their entire Xperia care department and replace it with an automated email outlining the steps above. The result would actually be better support as you don't get transferred between various Sony departments, or wait on hold, or have Mohammad from India ask you ridiculous questions, who you can't even understand due to his thick accent. This would result in a huge savings to the company.
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You should have seen it back before Sony bought Ericsson. It made today's support team look like Olympic Gold.
Having over 5,000 employees just to make tablets and phones is absurd. They need to cut jobs.
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That's what I'm saying, why you need so many people. They don't even make that many phones and tablets.
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Right...because one person can design, build, code, and produce one device all by themself. If a company had 4 devices, there should only be 4 employees in their mobile division, right??
Point is you do not need all those software folks when google hand you the os.
While Sony is cutting jobs in Mobile and trying to restructure, their market share in Asia is rapidly falling.
Meanwhile manufacturers in China like Huawei and Xiaomi are enjoying HUGE profits. Add the fact that Sony never aggressively went after the North American market and it's easy to see where their mobile division made mistakes.
It may already be too late for Sony to grab a big share of the North American market. Pretty tough competition in that market now. They would have to offer up a greater device and sell it cheaper to gain market share. Or get carriers on board with big discounts.
I wish Sony well as competition in the mobile segment is a good thing.
From the DeathStar using my rooted LG G2
THey use a razor model for their gaming division...sell the hardware at a loss, make that up in software sales. Unfortunately there's nothing comparable for the mobile industry. heir only option is to take a loss for a full year in order to boost their name in the market. The only bad part about doing that is people will expect a low price the next generation and if they don't get it Sony will be the one to suffer. Sony's only option at this point is to sell devices that reflect a mid-range price or move manufacturing to a country that can build high end devices for cheap. Japan has an incredibly high manufacturing cost and there is absolutely no way they can compete in today's economy if they keep their factories there.
HUGE profits? No. http://www.cnet.com/news/upstart-phone-maker-xiaomi-values-growth-over-p... Xiaomi's profit margin is under 2%. That's razor thin. Huawei is making more but not HUGE. Sony can't compete on price with margins like that
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I'm guessing some people are forgetting Sony was on Watch Dogs
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I think that they can do well in the USA if they advertise a lot and get the flagship on multiple carriers. They are a well known brand so people will check out their phones.
Not good. Sony needs to get it together, quick. They make excellent phones and tablets, but not enough people know about them. Sony is my favorite OEM, so I hope it turns around for them.
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