The CEO of Sony’s mobile business, Hiroki Totoki, has said in an interview that the company “will never” quit the mobile market and remains committed to manufacturing mobile devices.
Totoki told Arabian Business that as smartphones are connected to other devices and people lives, Sony will have to produce a number of new categories of products to make sure it doesn’t lose out on a very important business domain.
Sony sold off its Vaio PC business last year to concentrate on its smartphone and tablet line up and has also implemented a major restructuring of its operations. Earlier this year, Sony narrowed its annual net loss forecast to ¥170 billion ($1.4 billion), having previously said it expected to record a net loss of ¥230 billion ($1.9 billion) (Sony Cuts Loss Forecast but Also Cuts More Jobs). At the same time Sony announced a further round of job cuts in its mobile business, with an additional 1,100 employees set to lose their jobs, on top of the previously announced 1,000 staff cuts. The business has now seen its workforce reduced by one third.
