Sony has announced a $1 billion loss for the fiscal year of 2008 which is its first annual loss in fourteen years. This net loss meets the predictions from top experts at Sony that the fiscal year ending March 2010 will see an even greater loss, estimated at $1.26 billion.

Sony insiders indicate reduced sales, a strong yen, and pricing competition as major factors in the loss, although the Associated Press targets the PlayStation 3 and PSP battle for market shares in Sony’s troubled gaming sector. Sony will introduce cost-cutting action to combat these losses, which includes cutting over 16,000 jobs, closing four plants in Japan and doing the same for several other countries around the world.