Sony to retain strong China presence despite moves to cut jobs

Analysts expect Sony Corp to continue to have a strong presence in China's smartphone market, despite its announcement last week of plans to reduce its exposure to the world's largest handset market by cutting jobs.

Market speculation suggests the Japanese electronics giant is buckling under growing pressure from aggressive Chinese smartphone vendors.

Continuous weak quarterly sales have triggered Sony to reduce its Chinese operations, once a "gold mine" for the Tokyo-based multinational.