Why is Sony Worth Only 10% its Former Value?

Sony To Cut 10,000 More Jobs

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/9/2012

Tokyo - Sony is planning to reduce its workforce by 6 percent, or about 10,000 jobs, as new CEO Kazuo Hirai takes action in the wake of the company's fourth straight projected loss, according to a Nikkei news report.

About 5,000 of the job cuts are expected to come from a reorganization of operations producing chemicals and small- and medium-sized panels, according to the report.

Hirai had previously stated that "painful" steps would be necessary to turn the company around. Hirai is scheduled to hold a press conference on the management plan, April 12.

Valued at $200 billion as recently as September 2000, Sony is now estimated to be worth just $20 billion, compared with $591 billion for Apple and $170 billion of Samsung, according to Bloomberg.

In February, Sony predicted a loss of $2.7 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31. A fourth consecutive annual loss would be a first for the company since it listed in 1958.

Hirai, who has put himself in direct charge of the company's flagging TV business, divested much of its holdings in an LCD panel plant co-owned by Samsung as a cost-saving measure.