Sony Mobile to lay off 1,000 workers

Sony cuts more jobs amid difficult year

Sony has announced a 1,000-worker layoff as part of a restructure of its mobile division.

As part of the restructure Sony will also move its mobile operations from Sweden to Tokyo. The tech giant's layoffs come following Sony's take over of the Sony Ericsson joint venture earlier this year.

Sony Mobile's layoffs will reduce the company's global workforce by 15 per cent. The restructuring will also move Sony's mobile brand to Tokyo where its head office is located.

The company bought out Ericsson's 50 percent stake in the joint Sony Ericsson venture last February. Ericsson worked with Sony on mobile handsets since 2001, but failed to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung in recent years.

Sony Mobile's layoffs come during a poor financial year for the entire Sony label. The company capped off last year with a $2bn loss. Financial losses caused the company to cut more than 10,000 jobs last April.

Sony was once a leader in a variety of industries but stiff competition has seen the company trying to consolidate its core businesses for the better part of the year.

The company said during the April layoffs that its plan is to focus on the digital imaging, games console and mobile device sectors moving forward.

"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," said president of Sony Mobile 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."

Sony released its Xperia Go, Xperia P, and Xperia S phones on the Mobile label earlier this year.