Sony to close lens factory in Japan

After significant losses, Sony has been undertaking a series of measures to revitalize and grow its electronics business. The combination of different structural reform measures and business portfolio realignment is expected to reduce headcount across the entire Sony Group, primarily in the electronics business, by approximately 10,000 in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013 (“FY12”), including approximately 3,000 to 4,000 in Japan.

In order to streamline Sony’s manufacturing operations relating to its digital imaging business, the production of interchangeable lenses and lens blocks currently being conducted at Sony EMCS Corp.’s Minokamo Site (located in Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture) will be absorbed by EMCS Corp.’s Kohda Site (located in Kohda, Aichi Prefecture). As Sony concentrates its mobile phone business on the area of smartphones, the operations currently being carried out at the Minokamo Site relating to mobile phones will be partially discontinued and partially transferred to Sony EMCS Corp.’s Kisarazu Site. As a result of this realignment, the Minokamo Site, whioch employs 840 people, is scheduled to close at the end of March 2013.

At Sony’s headquarters operations where organizational integration and optimization have been actively implemented, a headcount reduction of approximately 20% is expected by the end of the current fiscal year through the introduction of an early retirement program and resource shifts. Headcount within the Home Entertainment and Sound Business Group, including the TV business group which has been implementing a series of ongoing profitability improvement measures, is expected to be reduced by approximately 20% by the end of October 2012 due to what Sony says is the transfer of employees outside the Company, together with a resource shift in personnel to other operations within the Sony Group.

According to Sony, no material impact is anticipated on the company’s FY12 consolidated results forecast, as these measures are included in the 10,000 headcount reduction and 75 billion yen in restructuring charges Sony previously announced for FY12. Furthermore, as a result of the restructuring measures implemented during FY12, including the most recent announcements, Sony anticipates an annual reduction in fixed costs of approximately 30 billion yen from the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014 onwards.