Sony Europe video game unit cutting jobs

Sony Corp.'s European video-game unit is cutting jobs to grow more competitive, a company spokesman said, as the just-launched PlayStation 3 machine struggles against rival offerings from Microsoft and Nintendo that beat it to the market, reports The Associated Press.

All Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. employees in Europe -- totaling about 1,900 people -- have been told about the plan to cut jobs, but specifics, such as the number of cuts and which jobs will be affected, have not been decided, said Satoshi Fukuoka, the spokesman in Tokyo, Japan. The company has no plans to trim jobs in Japan or North America, he said.

Japan's top business daily, The Nikkei, reported in its Thursday's editions that Sony Corp. will be slashing up to 160 jobs. Sony's gaming business was critically hurt by the launch delay in Europe of the next-generation PlayStation 3, the newspaper said.

Fukuoka would not confirm the Nikkei report to the AP. The job reductions in Europe reflect the company's need to adapt to the overall changes in gaming, not just the PS3 delay, he said.

"The way of enjoying entertainment is shifting," Fukuoka said. "The move is aimed at maintaining our competitive edge in a changing business environment."

Gamers are increasingly using their machines for various kinds of entertainment, including linking to the Internet, watching video, listening to music or looking at photos, not just playing games.