索尼游戏部门计划在美裁员

　　Sony Corp.'s game unit said on Thursday it planned to cut jobs in the United States and was eyeing restructuring steps in Japan as it struggles to keep up with industry rival Nintendo Co. Ltd.

　　Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced plans in April to cut up to 160 jobs in Europe， or 8.4 percent of its workforce there， and has said it would look at streamlining its operations in the U.S. and Japan.

　　Sony's game division posted an operating loss of 232 billion yen ($1.91 billion) in the year ended March 31 due to hefty start-up costs for the PlayStation 3， a new high-tech game console that has been losing out to Nintendo's wildly popular Wii.

　　A spokeswoman at SCE said the job cuts in the U.S. would be part of a larger effort to cut costs there. The timing and the size of the cuts have not yet been decided， she said.

　　SCE is also looking at ways to make its Japan operations more efficient， though no concrete plans have been drawn up.

　　索尼游戏部门周二表示，为了进一步进行重组，以追赶主要竞争对手任天堂，该公司计划在美国裁员。

　　索尼计算机娱乐部门4月曾宣布，会在欧洲地区裁员160人，相当于当地员工人数的8.4%。同时表示这一计划将主要在美国和日本实施。

　　在截至今年3月31日的这个财年里，由于PS3游戏机的启动成本巨大，索尼游戏部门的亏损达2320亿日元（合19.1亿美元）。但是PS3仍然落败于任天堂生产的畅销游戏机WII。

　　索尼游戏部门一位女发言人称，公司在美国的裁员计划是节省开支的重要组成部分，但裁员的具体时间和数量还没有决定。

　　虽然还没有制定具体计划，但索尼游戏部门正在寻找可以提高日本公司效益的办法。