Philips to Release 6000 Employees Into Wild
by John Paczkowski
Posted on January 26, 2009 at 5:20 AM PT
The consumer electronics dominoes continue to fall. First Sony (SNE), then Samsung and now Royal Philips Electronics (PHG). Echoing the suffering of its rivals, Europe’s largest consumer electronics firm reported a 1.47 billion euro ($1.9 billion) shortfall today–its first quarterly loss in almost six years–and announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs in 2009. “Our fourth-quarter results confirm the expectation we expressed in early December that the short term economic outlook is worsening and that 2009 is likely to be a very challenging year,” the company said in a statement.
A dismal prediction, but one that’s to be expected. Clearly, the unprecedented and ferocious decline in the economy doesn’t exactly encourage sales of flat-screen televisions–unless they’re consumer sales to pawn shops. “What is quite amazing is not so much the depth of slowdown, it’s the lack of visibility there is,” said Philips Electronics CFO Pierre-Jean Sivignon. “The world is tougher out there.”
[Image credit: Sad Guys on Trading Floors]
