Sony to axe 5,000 jobs as it sheds PC and TV units

Japanese electronics giant Sony has revealed plans to spin off its loss-making computer and television businesses in a restructuring that will lead to 5,000 job losses.

The shake-up, aimed at saving ¥100 billion (£604 million) a year, will see Sony split off its television division to be run as a wholly-owned subsidiary, while talks are taking place to sell its PC business to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners.

Some 1,500 of the job losses will be in Japan, with the rest overseas. The cuts, equivalent to about 3 per cent of Sony’s global workforce, will take effect by March 2015.

Sony also warned of a steep loss for the current financial year amid rising restructuring costs and weaker-than-expected sales of consumer electronics.

The Tokyo-based group is now predicting a net loss of ¥110bn for the year to March, compared with a previous forecast of a ¥30bn profit.