Remember when Howard Stringer said that he "wasn't recession proof" at this CES keynote? Yeah, he wasn't joking. Sony is about to post its first loss in 14 years, and it's a doozy.
Japan's Nikkei and Reuters are both reporting that losses for the fiscal year ending in March could hit $1.1 billion, with Nikkei saying they may even drift closer to $2 billion. This is, as they say, the exact opposite of the $2.2 billion profit forecast Sony previously cited.
At fault are, well, the financiapocalypse of course, which has resulted in subdued demand for HDTVs in the American market and elsewhere, as well as a booming yen that has driven up the price of exports. Stocks for all of the Japanese tech companies plunged today from the news, with Toshiba, Canon and Panasonic all down in the neighborhood of 7%.
So the idea of Sony shuttering a major division by the end of next month rings a bit more true now, doesn't it? Who will get the axe?