Sony continues to announce new smartphones, but the company's mobile division is still struggling. As a result the Japanese giant has apparently cut 975 jobs in Sweden, according to a report from local site 8till5.
The Xperia-maker confirmed the news, claiming the cuts only affect 575 redundant employees and another 400 consultants. In total Sony is losing almost half its Swedish workforce, with just 1,200 people remaining. The layoffs were also spread across almost all departments of the mobile division, suggesting the company's main goal is to simply save money in the short term. Sony's Swedish office mostly focused on software development and European outreach. The company cut 1,000 workers from the team earlier this year.
Sony recently announced the Xperia Z4 in Japan and the identical Xperia Z3+ for the international market, but it hasn't been able to compete with bigger mobile players such as Apple and Samsung. Recent reports suggest it might sell off the division, or simply spin it off to protect the rest of Sony's empire.
For now, Sony's smartphone business will continue chugging along, and we're expecting some interesting new products in the near future. Whether the company can stick it out in the long run remains to be seen.
