Sony Mobile to fire 1,000 employees in Sweden, Relocate headquarters to Japan

It seems the tech giants are taking serious measures to consolidate their operations and offset the risk of economic distress prevailing in the business environment. A week back, it was reported that Motorola axed 4000 odd jobs in India.

The latest newsbreak is that Sony Sony Mobile Communication has announced that they would cut down 15% of their work force in Mobile division, which could run to making 1000 employees jobless by 2014. It may be recalled that Sony Corp took full control of mobile phone division only recently buying out the stake of Ericsson. As per the company's announcement, Sony Mobile will be shifting their home base from Sweden to Tokyo soon.

The new initiatives from Sony are seen as part of its efforts to revive their mobile phone business which is currently holding a disappointing 4% market share in global markets. Sony was struggling on profit margins for the last 2 years was losing their turf in the smartphone segment to Apple and Samsung. However, these new initiatives confirm Sony’s commitment to the fast growing smartphone segment.

Reportedly in a media statement, the president and CEO of Sony Mobile, Kunimasa Suzuki, said, “We are accelerating the integration and convergence with the wider Sony group to continue enhancing our offerings, and a more focused and efficient operational structure will help to reduce Sony Mobile’s costs, enhance time to market efficiency and bring the business back to a place of strength.”

The company has already started its moves to shift the HQ from Sweden to Tokyo. They have informed the Swedish authorities that they will be cutting around 650 jobs and dismissing 350 consultants in the country. These job cuts and home base relocation are expected to take place through the next 2 years.