No Sanctuary for Business Restructuring: Sony Pres. Chubachi

Tokyo, Dec. 24 (Jiji Press)--Sony Corp. <6758> President Ryoji Chubachi said in a recent interview that all fields in the firm's mainstay electronics division would be subject to its business structural reform.

"There will be no sanctuary in the planned restructuring," Chubachi
said. The company will not make exceptions for growth fields, he said.
The comments indicate that the restructuring plan, which will
reduce the number of its electronics manufacturing bases worldwide by about
10 pct from the current 57 by the end of March 2010, will cover all
electronics businesses including growth fields such as lithium-ion
batteries.
Chubachi said that the selection of plants for overhaul will be
based on production efficiency. "It is necessary to check whether each plant
is competitive enough globally," he said.
He also said that Sony is working to minimize the impact of plant
closures on regional economies. Converting electronics plants into bases for
different business operations is one way to do that, he said.
Earlier this month, Sony announced a restructuring plan that
features a reduction of some 16,000 electronics jobs globally by the end of
March 2010 as well as plant closures.
In the interview, Chubachi stressed the need for structural reform
to ride out shrinking global demand and the soaring yen. "The business
environment has been severe," he said. "It will be hard if the current
situation continues," he said.
On management responsibility for the job cuts, Chubachi said the
management will take responsibility by completing the reform program and
producing an environment that creates new jobs.
Meanwhile, in an apparent reference to Panasonic Corp.'s <6752>
planned acquisition of Sanyo Electric Co. <6764>, he said that Sony will
focus on its own structural reform and cannot afford to make an industry
realignment move.