Sony Slashes Thousands

Updated:10:19, Thursday September 22, 2005

Struggling electronics and entertainment giant Sony is cutting 10,000 jobs from its worldwide workforce.

Sony is also selling more than £550m in property and other assets - and will post an annual loss.

In a restructuring plan that underwhelmed some analysts, Sony is trying to reverse its fortunes.

It is struggling to catch up with rivals Matsushita Electric Industrial and Sharp in flat televisions, and Apple Computer's iPod player in the portable music industry.

The inventor of the Trinitron TV and Walkman said it would book more than ?1bn in restructuring charges as it streamlined its operations.

Sony said it aimed to achieve a group operating profit margin of 5% in the 2007/08 business year.

"These are pretty moderate plans and they came within the realm of expectations," said one Japanese analyst.

"There could have been some investors who had expected more drastic measures."n