Sony Mobile to cut 15% of workforce and move headquarters to Japan

Sony Mobile has announced that it is to cut around 15 per cent of its workforce, equivalent to 1,000 personnel, including consultants by the end of March 2014, with most of the losses taking place in Sweden.

The company, which was formerly a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, is also moving its corporate headquarters and certain other functions from Sweden to Japan. Sony Mobile has also redefined the roles and responsibilities of each major development site to leverage the strengths of each respective site.

"Sony has identified the mobile business as one of its core businesses and the Xperia smartphone portfolio continues to gain momentum with customers and consumers worldwide," said Kunimasa Suzuki, president and CEO of Sony Mobile.

Sony Mobile has filed a redundancy notification ("varsel") with the Swedish authorities to notify them that the company expects around 650 employees across a number of functions at Sony Mobile in Lund to be affected by job closures. The remaining headcount reductions will be primarily consultants in Sweden. Lund will continue to be a strategic site for Sony Mobile, with the main focus on software and application development.