Pioneer predicts greater loss, taps new president
The car and home electronics maker is another Japanese company hurt by the rising yen and slumping economy, as it reveals a $783 million quarterly net loss and plans a layoff.
Japanese electronics maker Pioneer is set to report wider financial losses, and has named Susumu Kotani as the company's new president.
Company board member Kotani will replace Tamihiko Sudo as president. On March 31, Pioneer will report a net loss of 78 billion yen, or $783 million, the company revealed. It will be the company's fifth straight quarter without a profit.
To cut costs, the company will lay off 2,000 workers, according to a Bloomberg report. Pioneer had already planned to stop making plasma panels for its flat-screen TVs by February 2009 (Panasonic will supply the panels instead).
Fellow Japanese electronics maker Sony also reported less-than-stellar quarterly results, and pointed to the same problems as Pioneer: a stronger yen-to-dollar conversion rate and the global economic slowdown.