Sony To Sell Its Tokyo Headquarters Building

Sony, the second largest consumer electronics player is forced to play catch-up in critical electronics products such as MP3 digital music players and flat-panel TVs. Despite its profit in the AMJ quarter, fact remains, Sony’s problem remains quite deep. Sony’s first non-japanese CEO Howard Stringer has ordered 10,000 job cuts by March 2008, of which 9,600 have occurred. That amounts to about 6 percent of Sony's global payroll of 158,500. Sony has already sold off 113 billion yen of assets and lowered its stake in a Japanese retail chain that sells candy, cosmetics and other trinkets unrelated to electronics. It also scrapped its Aibo pet robot division and stopped making plasma TVs. Now comes the news that Sony may after all choose to sell its historic headquarters building in Tokyo besides some of its properties in Shinagawa Ward,Tokyo, where the company was born. Selling corporate headquarters building is an emotional issue and particularly if it is in costly Tokyo city. Sony is one of the wonders of the 20th century - hopefully under Howard's steering, it turns around and regain its lost glory.