Sony Sinks Deeper

A day after news emerged that it would cut 10,000 jobs, or roughly 6 percent of its global workforce, Sony (NYSE: SNE) on Tuesday forecast a net loss of US$6.4 billion for the business year that just ended -- the largest loss in company history.

Reuters reported that Sony

has been hammered by weak demand for its televisions and been overtaken by more innovative gadget rivals such as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung Electronics. Kazuo Hirai, who took over as CEO this month, has said he is prepared to take "painful steps" to revive the company and would not hesitate to scale back or withdraw from businesses if they were not competitive.

Sony's losses were exacerbated by writing off billions in deferred tax credits in the U.S. Previously, the tax credits had been counted as earnings.