Sony is to axe another 10,000 jobs as part of its restructuring efforts. Weighed down by massive losses in its television department, Sony expects to lose $2.7bn this year. [Nikkei/Reuters]

  • EH

    Yes, of course this has to do with losses in the television department (read: downloading) and nothing to do with their consumer-hostile business practices.

    • corydodt

      They are talking about TV manufacturing, not TV show production (but you can be forgiven for thinking that, seeing as Sony makes fucking everything in some department or other).

      Not sure why sales would be so bad, though. What’s replacing the TV for show-watching? People mostly still like the big screens, and only resort to their iPads and laptops in a pinch, AFAICT.

      • EH

        Mea culpa, but to be sure, they haven’t made a good TV since the 34XBR970.

        • http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo

          True, that.

          It’s called resting on one’s laurels. If it wasn’t for Gran Turismo I’d have virtually no interest in any Sony products.

          Mind you, I did buy a Sony e-reader for the GF after researching them. No proprietary connectors or lock-out of DRM-free formats, so maybe they’re learning…

          • penguinchris

            I think they are learning, but probably not fast enough. Their e-readers have always used standard connectors and have had no issues with DRM-free formats (I’ve never actually put a DRM-encumbered file on my several-years-old Sony e-reader). 

            And of course the PS3 uses standard USB cables to charge the controllers, and you can plug in standard USB keyboards and mice and so on. Not that the PS3 is a good example of them learning considering what they’ve done with it.

    • https://plus.google.com/104067355242126774300/posts?hl=en Dennis Smith

      I am boycotting Sony and I am pleased to hear this, sad for the guys out of work though. This cutting jobs lark is a bit of a stitch up though, often it’s used as a form of commercial bribery and there are several tax fiddles in some places too,  so it’s possibly a bit of that too.

      I’ve been boycotting them since they sold mini disks. I brought one that was marketed as capable of being used to record to from my own source and I would be able to take the recording off it using the USB port on the side. After making a number of recording on it, I find out I can only take my high quality recording off it in analogue through the headphone jack.  Screw em. I paid a fortune for it. damn them and their DRM!

      • penguinchris

        Which model did you have? If it had the USB port, it’s odd that you couldn’t access your recordings from a computer. Naturally, you did have to use their shitty software to do it. And you had to use the correct recording mode – if you recorded in analog mode (I don’t remember their terminology) of course you can’t access it digitally.

        I quite liked my minidisc player. In retrospect I should have bought an iPod, which had been out for a couple of years at the time but hadn’t really become huge yet, because getting all your music on to minidiscs was a pain in the ass, though it was great for recording. I would have been better off with an iPod because I only ended up ever recording one concert with the minidisc player.

        • https://plus.google.com/104067355242126774300/posts?hl=en Dennis Smith

          The DRM on the Minidisk players was enforced by encrypted data transfers and one way recording – You can record to the device but try pulling YOUR recording back.

  • SomeGuyNamedMark

    The executives will still get big bonuses for their brave restructuring.

  • http://kyleclements.com/ Kyle Clements

    Sony makes some really nice things. 

    If only they would treat their customers with some respect, then I might be interested in purchasing what they make; but every time I read about the new and creative ways they’ve come up with to screw over the people who bought their goods, I lose interest in buying anything from them.  I like company’s that won’t screw me.

  • oldtaku

    I’m sure this will be more efficient than just ‘Don’t be assholes to your customers.’

  • philipb

    Bet the farm on 3D TV.  I could have told them.

    • http://www.fatjerry.com Dimmer

      Yeah, but there again so did every other TV maker, so at least they are “only” part of a clusterfuck. I doubt that the PS Vitia (sp?) is giving them a good ROI either…

  • Alan Olsen

    Shouldn’t that read “10,000 Sony workers given their Walkman papers”?

    (Yes I stole that joke from @mrwordworth on Twitter.)