Sony were denying large-scale restructuring plans up until a couple of weeks ago, despite reports suggesting they would have to happen. Today, it emerges the the electronics giant might finally air word on the subject this week.

According to Reuters, some 16,000 jobs could be shed while as many as six manufacturing plants could close.

It isn't clear at present whether the PlayStation arm of Sony, traditionally a haven of profitability, will be impacted by these huge cut-backs - which come on top of the 8,000 redundancies confirmed last year.

"Sony’s not in a position to halt all domestic production but it has to do something that drastic," offered Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "If it announces plans to move production overseas while keeping only planning and functions in Japan, that would be a positive."

Microsoft, meanwhile, could confirm job losses of their own. As many as 8,000, in fact.

By Luke Guttridge