it will post an annual loss of $4.3 billion and said it will cut
15,000 jobs as it grapples with a stronger yen and slowing demand.
The maker of Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras joins a growing
list of electronics makers stepping up restructuring in the face of a
global slump that is shaping up to be nastier than the last major
downturn in 2001 after the IT bubble.
"Sales fell in all our business segments in the third quarter. We
expect sharper sales declines in this quarter, and profits are likely
to shrink in every segment," Panasonic director Makoto Uenoyama told a
news conference.
Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi are all facing multi billion dollar losses,
crippled by the double whammy of falling sales and a strong Japanese
currency that eats into overseas profits when repatriated.
The yen's surge to a 13-year high against the dollar has also made
Japanese electronics less competitive than goods from South Korean
rivals such as Samsung Electronics, which are benefiting from a softer
won.
Panasonic said it will close 27 manufacturing sites in the current
fiscal year that ends in March and will carry out another round of
plant closures of a similar scale in the next business year.
It also plans to cut around 15,000 jobs, including both full-time
regular employees and contract workers. Half the cuts will be in Japan
and half overseas. It has a global workforce of about 300,000 regular
workers.
On top of dwindling sales of consumer gadgets, Panasonic's factory
automation equipment operations have come under pressure as companies
worldwide cut production and spending on manufacturing tools.
The company also said it will delay the start-up of its new LCD panel
plant in western Japan by six months, to July 2010.
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