The company said sales of its electronics division had doubled since 1985 and were expected to do so again by 1997.

But soon he was handed the American electronics division, then movies and music.

Sony plans to eliminate 20,000 jobs by 2006 to reduce costs in its electronics division.

In the last three years, Sony's electronics division has dragged down company profits.

But the information systems and electronics division saw its operating profit jump 42 percent to 84 billion yen.

Over all, sales in the electronics divisions were flat at 1.2 trillion yen, or $10.4 billion.

That will bring some relief for its main source of revenues; its electronics division.

Their partnership comes at a crucial time for Sony, which is trying to cut costs in its bloated electronics division.

"If the reason for the revision had been improvement in the electronics division, that would have been very positive," he said.

The weapons and electronics divisions, worth forty million pounds, have been bought out by their own managements.