An official announcement will occur today or tomorrow, according to The Financial Times, which also claims that Sir Howard Stringer’s plans for staff reductions has found opposition from unnamed company executives.
Regardless of such opposition, Sony’s restructuring seems inevitable, as the company sits in challenging times for high-end consumer goods, while the high Yen continues to compromise Japan’s export trade. Sir Howard believes, according to the FT, that Sony should cut its manufacturing costs and rely more on sales of software.
“Sony’s not in a position to halt all domestic production but it has to do something that drastic,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management, speaking to Reuters.
“If it announces plans to move production overseas while keeping only planning and development functions in Japan, that would be a positive.”
It is not known, and unlikely, that Sony’s games division will be a direct part of the group’s full restructuring plans.