ID :
45355
Thu, 02/12/2009 - 20:45
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https://oananews.org//node/45355
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Pioneer to cut 10,000 jobs globally as FY 2008 loss set to balloon+
TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo -
Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp. said Thursday it will withdraw from
the struggling flat-panel TV business by March next year and cut 10,000 jobs
worldwide as it expands its loss projection for the business year ending next
month, which will mark red ink for the company for the fifth consecutive year.
The job cuts involve about 6,000 regular jobs and some 4,000 temporary and
contract jobs, the firm said, without giving a regional breakdown. The
announcement came after it eliminated about 5,900 regular jobs in the March to
December period last year to bring down its group regular workforce to about
36,900, and slashed about 4,000 temporary jobs last year to 10,000.
Pioneer also said, without giving a regional breakdown, it will reduce its
number of production firms globally by 30 percent from the current 30 and
streamline its sales networks to cut costs. It will also review its research
and development activities and operations at its headquarters.
Blaming weakening sales of plasma display TVs and other home electronics
appliances, as well as the steep appreciation of the yen, Pioneer said it now
expects to incur a record-high 130 billion yen in group net loss for fiscal
2008, instead of the 78 billion yen loss it forecast in October.
Given sluggish sales of panel TVs, Pioneer said it has decided to end in-house
development of displays used for them and focus its business resources on car
electronics operations, such as car navigation systems.
''These restructuring measures will come with great pain but they're necessary
to break out of the current difficult situation in which we're going to incur a
loss for the fifth straight year, and make us shine again,'' President Susumu
Kotani said at a press conference.
Selling plasma TVs as its mainstay product in the flat-panel TV business,
Pioneer has faced an uphill battle due to intensifying industry competition and
falling demand, and a stronger yen, which erodes its overseas earnings.
In an effort to rejuvenate the business, the Tokyo-based company in March last
year announced plans to farm out the production of plasma display panels for
TVs to Panasonic Corp. and to close its domestic panel production bases by the
end of next month.
Sharp Corp. has also supplied Pioneer with liquid crystal display TVs and
Pioneer has sold them in Europe under its own brand.
''Price falls in panel TVs accelerated much faster than we had expected,''
Kotani said, adding that he has decided to exit the TV business with
''heartbreaking grief,'' as the firm's other main business of car electronics
is also expected to fall into the red in the current business year amid the
current economic downturn.
Although Pioneer's car electronics business has been hit hard by slumping auto
sales around the world, there should be new business opportunities over the
long term in relation to demand for environmentally friendly or fuel efficient
technologies, Kotani said.
As part of its restructuring efforts, Pioneer is also considering forming an
alliance with Sharp in optical disks, and details should be finalized and
announced in the near future, he added.
For fiscal 2008 ending March 31, Pioneer also expanded its operating loss
projection from 17 billion yen to 69 billion yen, with its sales forecast
lowered from 700 billion yen to 560 billion yen.
The projections compare with its fiscal 2007 performance of a net loss of 17.99
billion yen and an operating profit of 10.91 billion yen on sales of 774.48
billion yen.
To combat the continued losses, Pioneer also said it will expand its executive
pay cut implemented from last July and not pay executive bonuses. It will carry
out a base salary cut of 20 to 50 percent from this month until March 2011.
For the April-December period, the company reported a 79.13 billion yen group
net loss compared with a profit of 11.62 billion yen logged a year before.
Pioneer said its operating loss for the nine-month period totaled 23.81 billion
yen compared with a profit of 9.15 billion yen marked a year earlier on 458.27
billion yen in sales, down 22.9 percent.
==Kyodo
2009-02-12 22:28:48
Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp. said Thursday it will withdraw from
the struggling flat-panel TV business by March next year and cut 10,000 jobs
worldwide as it expands its loss projection for the business year ending next
month, which will mark red ink for the company for the fifth consecutive year.
The job cuts involve about 6,000 regular jobs and some 4,000 temporary and
contract jobs, the firm said, without giving a regional breakdown. The
announcement came after it eliminated about 5,900 regular jobs in the March to
December period last year to bring down its group regular workforce to about
36,900, and slashed about 4,000 temporary jobs last year to 10,000.
Pioneer also said, without giving a regional breakdown, it will reduce its
number of production firms globally by 30 percent from the current 30 and
streamline its sales networks to cut costs. It will also review its research
and development activities and operations at its headquarters.
Blaming weakening sales of plasma display TVs and other home electronics
appliances, as well as the steep appreciation of the yen, Pioneer said it now
expects to incur a record-high 130 billion yen in group net loss for fiscal
2008, instead of the 78 billion yen loss it forecast in October.
Given sluggish sales of panel TVs, Pioneer said it has decided to end in-house
development of displays used for them and focus its business resources on car
electronics operations, such as car navigation systems.
''These restructuring measures will come with great pain but they're necessary
to break out of the current difficult situation in which we're going to incur a
loss for the fifth straight year, and make us shine again,'' President Susumu
Kotani said at a press conference.
Selling plasma TVs as its mainstay product in the flat-panel TV business,
Pioneer has faced an uphill battle due to intensifying industry competition and
falling demand, and a stronger yen, which erodes its overseas earnings.
In an effort to rejuvenate the business, the Tokyo-based company in March last
year announced plans to farm out the production of plasma display panels for
TVs to Panasonic Corp. and to close its domestic panel production bases by the
end of next month.
Sharp Corp. has also supplied Pioneer with liquid crystal display TVs and
Pioneer has sold them in Europe under its own brand.
''Price falls in panel TVs accelerated much faster than we had expected,''
Kotani said, adding that he has decided to exit the TV business with
''heartbreaking grief,'' as the firm's other main business of car electronics
is also expected to fall into the red in the current business year amid the
current economic downturn.
Although Pioneer's car electronics business has been hit hard by slumping auto
sales around the world, there should be new business opportunities over the
long term in relation to demand for environmentally friendly or fuel efficient
technologies, Kotani said.
As part of its restructuring efforts, Pioneer is also considering forming an
alliance with Sharp in optical disks, and details should be finalized and
announced in the near future, he added.
For fiscal 2008 ending March 31, Pioneer also expanded its operating loss
projection from 17 billion yen to 69 billion yen, with its sales forecast
lowered from 700 billion yen to 560 billion yen.
The projections compare with its fiscal 2007 performance of a net loss of 17.99
billion yen and an operating profit of 10.91 billion yen on sales of 774.48
billion yen.
To combat the continued losses, Pioneer also said it will expand its executive
pay cut implemented from last July and not pay executive bonuses. It will carry
out a base salary cut of 20 to 50 percent from this month until March 2011.
For the April-December period, the company reported a 79.13 billion yen group
net loss compared with a profit of 11.62 billion yen logged a year before.
Pioneer said its operating loss for the nine-month period totaled 23.81 billion
yen compared with a profit of 9.15 billion yen marked a year earlier on 458.27
billion yen in sales, down 22.9 percent.
==Kyodo
2009-02-12 22:28:48
