Sony to cut majority of component suppliers

Nikkei Net has revealed that Sony will be cutting down on the number of its suppliers that deliver components used in its PlayStation products. Sony plans to reduce the number of its suppliers to one-fifth of the current number of companies by the end of March 2007, from approximately 4,700 suppliers down to 1,000. Companies with low volumes of transactions are first in the line to be cut. By reducing the number of contractors and transferring the work to the remaining companies, Sony plans to lower the costs per unit of the components. Panasonic--the manufacturer of the GameCube-compatible console Q-- will also be cutting the number of its suppliers from 3,000 to 2,000.