Sony to halve component suppliers in cost cutting move

According to the AP, Sony has said it will be halving the number of parts suppliers it uses in order to reduce overheads.

It aims to lower buying costs by 20 percent, or 500 billion yen ($5.3b/£3.4b) throughout the year.

In order to achieve this goal, Sony will limit the number of parts suppliers it uses about 2,500 now to about 1,200.

Earlier this year, research firm iSuppli said that although Sony cut the cost of PS3 hardware from $690.23 to $448.73 due to a general decline in component costs, console production was still operating at a loss. This new move is likely to affect the gaming division and bring costs down even further.

"We are fundamentally transforming Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company," Sony CEO Howard Stringer said.

Thanks, Edge.