Sony’s first annual loss in 14 years was a big one. This last quarter was particularly brutal, with the Japanese company reporting a loss of 165 billion yen ($1.72 billion) for the three months ending March 31. Add this all in with the rest of the year, and Sony comes out in the red, with an annual loss of 98.9 billion yen ($1 billion). This is a big change from last year, where the company was up 369.4 billion yen.
Sony blames lower sales, increased competition, and a slow Japanese market for the drop. To make up for this, Sony plans to shut down three plants and lay off 8,000 jobs by years end, says Cnet. That won’t be a quick fix, though; the company plans to lose $1.2 billion through March 2010.
Gaming was a disappointment for Sony, as revenue from consoles dropped 18 percent due to competition from Nintendo and Microsoft. Sadly, the electronics and entertainment divisions saw similar drops for the year.
Damn, Sony. Get it together. That new PSP had better be pretty slick!
