Sony Philippines expects weaker 2009 sales

MANILA, Philippines - Teh local unit of Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. expects weaker sales this year as demand is hit by the global economic turmoil. Speaking on the sidelines of a briefing in Makati on Wednesday, Sony Philippines, Inc. President and Managing Director Toshiya Kagita said the Philippine market would not be insulated from the slowing global economy, which has forced the company to lay off about 16,000 employees worldwide. "We recognize that there is a crisis, and the Philippines will not be insulated from this," he told reporters Thursday. Earlier this month, the parent firm posted $1.7 billion in net losses last year — its first annual loss in 14 years. This forced the company to cut as many as 8,000 out of its 185,000 regular employees, and laid off by a similar number of temporary workers. The company has also decided to close down five or six of its 57 manufacturing facilities around the world. The parent company has said it would offer early retirement packages to regular employees to cut its total work force by a third by 2010. Mr. Kagita noted that while there were no plans to cut any of the company’s 100 employees here, it was unlikely for the company to sustain the double-digit sales growth it had posted last year. Last year, he said, the company had only managed to post single-digit growth, as sales slowed drastically in the last quarter. He said the local unit was still finalizing its outlook for the year, declining to give projections. "There will definitely be no double-digit growth, but it won’t be a double-digit decline either," he added. Despite the crisis, Mr. Kagita said the Philippines would fare better than other markets like the US and Europe, where the company expects to post a double-digit slide. On Wednesday, Sony launched its newest notebook computer, the VAIO P, which stands for pocket style. The new VAIO boasts of up to four gigabytes of random access memory, 64 gigabytes of storage space, a 1.6-gigahertz Intel Atom processor, a Windows Vista operating system and an eight-inch widescreen display than can run high-definition videos. The company said the P70,000 VAIO P will target consumers looking for the convenience of a small gadget without sacrificing features. "This is not a netbook," Mr. Kagita said, referring to the VAIO P’s more advanced features than similar-sized computers sold by rivals. The Sony executive declined to comment on the possibility of the company entering the competitive netbook market. Netbooks are small and inexpensive notebook computers designed for basic computing tasks such as surfing the Internet and checking e-mails. The bulk of Sony’s revenues come from liquid crystal display TV sets. The company also sells digital cameras, video recorders, personal computers and other gadgets. — Paolo Luis G. Montecillo, BusinessWorld