Pioneer says it plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs worldwide and gradually shut down most of its television operations (largely plasma-based) as a worsening economic climate forces the firm’s annual loss forecast to about $1.44 billion.
Pioneer said earlier this year that it had planned to vacate the television business by March 2010. Now with looming cuts of around 16 percent of its full-time positions and another 4,000 temp jobs being eliminated, the Tokyo-based manufacturer said its sales will drop by about 28 percent in the current fiscal year. Pioneer has been a major maker of plasma HD units.
Vizio, too, plans to cease building plasma sets for the foreseeable future, according to The New York Times. Vizio has been among the top LCD HD manufacturers in recent years for North America.
Pioneer’s annual losses will be the firm’s fifth consecutive negative showing. The company plans to close a plasma panel factory in the United Kingdom this month, and one in April in the United States.
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