As part of these efforts, Sony today announced further measures to be executed under the leadership of Masashi Imamura, in charge of Sony's Manufacturing, Logistics, Procurement, Quality and Environmental Platform.

Effective April 1, 2016, Sony EMCS Corporation ("Sony EMCS"), which currently oversees engineering, manufacturing, and repair services for Sony's consumer electronics and professional equipment in Japan, will merge with the relevant functions at Sony Corporation that supervise those operations globally.

The new company resulting from this merger will be named Sony Global Manufacturing & Operations Corporation, and Mitsuya Kishida, currently the President of Sony EMCS, will serve as its Representative Director and President.

Sony Global Manufacturing & Operations Corporation will thus assume the current responsibilities of Sony EMCS in managing domestic manufacturing operations in Japan and administering manufacturing facilities overseas.

It will also be responsible for global shared services functions that oversee procurement, logistics, quality and environment-related initiatives around the world.

Finally, Sony Global Manufacturing & Operations Corporation will take over engineering functions that, in collaboration with Sony's various business units and subsidiaries, engage in R&D for core technologies and manufacturing technologies and support the design process.

Through this realignment, Sony will bring together into one place the extensive knowledge and expertise in operations that its various organizations have accumulated, in order to streamline and continue evolving its operations that transcend national/regional boundaries and product categories. By doing so, Sony intends to strengthen its electronics business even further.