Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp is trimming 20,000 jobs, or about 13 per cent of its global workforce, in the next three years as part of a turnaround strategy announced yesterday.

Of those job cuts, 7,000 will be in Japan, the company said in a statement. Regional breakdowns were not immediately available. Sony employs about 154,500 people worldwide. Sony said it will integrate administrative and corporate jobs that overlap and increase efficiency.

The plans include bringing together engineers in the company's home and mobile electronics sectors, such as cell phones, mobile devices, TVs and video-game consoles, to beef up development of computer chips and devices, the Tokyo-based company said.

It will also develop a joint venture to strengthen purchasing of liquid crystal display panels and developing next-generation TVs.

"We hope to be able to offer new businesses that take advantage of Sony's unique combination of electronics and entertainment," Sony Chief Executive Nobuyuki Idei told reporters at a Tokyo hotel.

Sony has been reviewing its strategy to boost its lagging profits. The emergence of cheaper rivals such as Samsung of South Korea and Dell Inc of the United States have chipped away at Sony's success in audio equipment, computers, TVs and other gadgets.

Sony's glamorous image built over the decades through hits like the Walkman, which helped define the lifestyle of a generation, has not quite been matched by the Vaio personal computer or Wega TV. Trends in electronic goods now come and go more quickly, rapidly turning high-tech products into cheap commodities.

Sony has also fallen behind domestic rivals such as Sharp Corp in liquid crystal display TVs, which are growing in popularity around the world, as well as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, which makes the Panasonic brand, in DVD recorders.

Sony's profits tumbled 25 per cent in the quarter from July through September to 32.9 billion yen (US$304 million) from 44 billion yen from a year ago.

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