Japanese electronics giant Sony has declined to rule out Australian job cuts as part of its announcement overnight that it would cut 16,000 staff globally between now and March 2010.
"At this time, Australia is faring better economically than other parts of the world, so these specific initiatives will not necessarily take the same shape locally," Sony Australia managing director Carl Rose wrote in a statement delivered to press this morning.
"That said," he added, "in times like these, the measure of a good organisation is how effectively it can adapt to movements in the market. Sony Australia will continue to monitor and review its operation in order to meet the needs of customers and shareholders.
The executive said Sony Australia had already embarked on local initiatives to improve profits, including price increases announced last week and what Rose called a "broad strategy to move some of the fixed costs of our business to a variable cost platform" — for example, the company is outsourcing its logistics operation to DHL.
Sony Australia's most recent results filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (for the year to 31 March 2007) show strong revenue growth — up 22 per cent in that year to $692 million. Last year Rose said the company's Bravia LCD television line was doing well, in addition to cameras and Vaio laptops.
Sony is segregated into a number of different operating companies internationally, which have also in recent times appeared to be doing well in Australia. For example, in the year ended 31 March 2007, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, which markets the PlayStation line, amongst other products, recorded revenues up 14.1 per cent on the previous year, to $210.2 million.
Like a game of 2UP it will be either job cuts or price increases.