Sony Mobile is cutting 1,000 jobs – 15 per cent of its entire workforce – as part of a restructuring effort, as it moves its headquarters from Lund, Sweden, to Tokyo.
According to the company, the move is an attempt to enhance the operational and development capabilities of its mobile arm, once known as Sony Ericsson, which has continued to struggle in the six months since Sony bought out Ericssons half of the business for €1.05bn (£919m).
“Sony has identified the mobile business as one of its core businesses, and the Xperia smartphone portfolio continues to gain momentum with customers and consumers worldwide,” says Sony Mobile president and CEO Kunimasa Suzuki. “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.”