Pioneer to exit TVs, cut 10,000 jobs
updated 07:55 am EST, Thu February 12, 2009
Pioneer Exits TVs
Confirming rumors, Pioneer today said it would exit TVs altogether in a bid to recover its business from an approximately $1.44 billon loss in the past year. The move will see the company quickly shut down its Castleford, UK and Pomona, California factories that make TVs and eventually phase out TVs altogether by March 2010. The departure is directly pinned on the US economic crisis and its impact on demand for TVs.
As part of the cost-cutting measures, Pioneer also plans to slash 6,000 salaried jobs and about 4,000 contractors, either of which involves both Japanese and foreign workers. These include the workers losing their jobs at the TV manufacturing plants.
The drastic measures follow a series of major blows to Japanese electronics companies that have included 16,000 jobs cut at Sony as well as 20,000 positions eliminated at NEC.
Pioneer is best-known for its plasmas and has earned a reputation for the visual quality of its Kuro and Kuro Elite TVs, which have particularly high contrast ratios and image accuracy.
