Rumor: Sony cuts workforce in smartphone division

Sony will halve the workforce of its smartphone division by March 2020, according to Nikkei Asian Review. The number of jobs would go from 4,000 to 2,000 to make the division profitable again.

According to the Japanese newspaper, Sony is cutting its workforce because smartphone sales worldwide are declining and because the brand itself has only a minimal market share, of less than 1 percent. Some of the employees who lose their positions would be transferred to other divisions and there will be an option for employees to leave voluntarily. Sony has not yet announced anything about the layoffs.

The decision would also affect workers in Europe and China. Furthermore, Nikkei Asian Review writes that Sony will focus on Europe and East Asia with the sale of its Xperia smartphones and will sell fewer phones in other parts of the world. All this should ensure that the business unit is profitable again in 2020.

This is not the first time that Sony has undergone a reorganization. Previously it already did by stopping with laptops and changes also took place in the TV division. In early 2015, Sony also laid off a large number of people from its smartphone division. According to ZDNet, 2100 people left at the time and about 5000 remained. Currently, the smartphone division is the only business unit of Sony that is making a loss.

Sony Xperia 1