Panasonic may halve its headquarters

Japan's Panasonic Corp plans to nearly halve the number of workers at its headquarters through early retirement and transfers to subsidiaries, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, sending shares ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp plans to nearly halve the number of workers at its headquarters through early retirement and transfers to subsidiaries, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday, sending shares in the electronics group up 3 percent.

Panasonic posted a record $9.67 billion annual loss as one of Japan's flagship companies was hammered by a strong currency, natural disasters and stiff competition from foreign rivals.The 772.2 billion yen shortfall, one of the worst-ever losses for a non-financial Japanese firm, comes as the consumer electronics giant reshuffles its boardroom and overhauls its business in a bid to return to profitability.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic forecasts a record net annual loss of $10bn for the year to March.

US online giant Amazon will start a Japanese-language ebook business as early as this year, the Nikkei business daily and Jiji press said Thursday.The company, which already has a strong retail presence in Japan, is in the final stages of talks with major Japanese publishers, the Nikkei said.Amazon is also considering a launch of its Kindle reader for Japanese customers, the Nikkei said.The company was hoping to start the business in time for the Christmas sales season, Jiji said.Amazon's Japanese representatives declined to comment on the report.

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony Corp posted a record net loss of 456.7 billion yen for the year just ended, hit by losses from its TV business, but forecast a return to profit at an operating ...

Reuters - Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic Corp said it was planning 35,000 job cuts over three years to March 2013, nearly 10 percent of its workforce, in a bid to pare costs and keep up with Asian rivals.