Sony job cuts arrive in Australia and New Zealand

Sony Electronics has announced that a number of job cuts have been made to its Australia and New Zealand arm.

Declining to comment on how many employees were made redundant, Sony did say that employees in its sales, marketing, and support departments have been affected.

"Sony has implemented some organisational changes, resulting in a number of redundancies across ANZ," the company said in a statement.

Sony said the decision is in line with the company's February announcement, where it expects to globally slash 5,000 jobs as part of plans to accelerate the "revitalisation and growth" of its electronics business.

The firm had already lost 20 percent of its headcount that impacted 2,000 employees when it decided to close its Tokyo headquarters in March 2013.

The electronics giant also confirmed that it will cease selling its Vaio products in the ANZ markets as of June 2014. Back in April 2012, Sony admitted that its Vaio and TV businesses were no longer profitable, and said it planned to spin out its TV division into a separate subsidiary by July to turn its fortunes around. The company inked a deal in February to sell its PC business to investment fund Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) for an undisclosed amount.

Sony explained in February that the moves are necessary amid "drastic changes" in the global PC market, and is the "optimal solution" that would allow the company to focus on its mobile offerings encompassing smartphones and tablets.

The company expects to fork out 20 billion yen ($196.29 million) to roll out the restructuring plans in fiscal year 2013, and another 70 billion yen ($690.05 million) by fiscal year 2014. Sony expects the restructuring measures to slash its annual fixed costs by over 100 billion yen ($986.47 million) from the 2015 fiscal year.