New York — Several weeks after a Nikkei report outlined upcoming staffing reductions at Sharp Electronics in Japan and the United States, the company has confirmed a wave of layoffs in its U.S. TV business.
The company would not comment on the number of positions being cut, but the initial report estimated as many as 6,000 jobs could be cut company-wide in 2015.
The layoffs come after the company reported a quarterly loss of 22.9 billion yen ($190 million) and a total fiscal year loss of 30 billion yen ($250 million)
In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported this week the company was looking to spin off part of its LCD panel business, which makes small- and medium-size screens for smartphones.
Sharp is reportedly seeking capital investment from a government fund formed to support Japan’s electronics industry to maintain control of its panel business.
Sharp’s U.S president Jim Sanduski released this statement to TWICE: “There is no change to Sharp’s commitment to the consumer business in the United States through retail. This includes both the appliance and A/V businesses. We remain devoted to the TV business in the U.S. and in fact, all of the TVs we showed at CES and subsequently issued pricing on are either arriving in market now or will be by June. However, as the TV industry changes we are faced with adjusting our business model to remain competitive. This has resulted in the need for some staffing reductions. While these changes are painful, we will continue to fully support our channel partners’ sales efforts and we are looking forward to a successful 2015 and beyond.”
