Well-known Japanese electronics manufacturer Sony Corp. reported Thursday it expects a $1.1 billion loss at the in the current fiscal year, prompting the company to cut jobs, sell its PC Vaio business, and shut down its North American e-book ventures.

Sony, the company that gave the world the Walkman, expects to incur the loss of over $1 billion, or 110 billion yen, at the end of the current fiscal year that ends Mar. 31.

Job Losses

In light of the mounting losses, Sony announced that it will cut 5,000 jobs worldwide by March 2015. Around 1,500 of the job losses will be in Japan, while the other 3,500 layoffs will be spread worldwide. The job cuts aren't the first Sony has declared in recent years.

Sony revealed it would cut 10,000 jobs beginning in 2012, 8,000 jobs in 2008, and 10,000 jobs in 2005. According to the New York Times, this brings Sony's total population down to around 145,000.

Goodbye Vaio

Sony will also be bidding farewell to its PC Vaio business in an effort to shed more money-losing ventures. The Japanese electronics manufacturer is reportedly in talks with investment fund Japan Industrial Partners to try and sell its Vaio brand by the end of March. Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai called the move to sell Vaio "agonizing" at a press conference in Tokyo.

Sony created Vaio back in 1996, and gained a reputation for being a slick alternative to competitors Dell and HP, until slowly fading out of sight in recent years.

No More Reader Store

Sony's restructuring plan also involves completely scrapping its Reader Store e-reader business in the United States and Canada. The Reader Store will remain open until March 20, 6 p.m. EST, when Sony will then pull the plug on the service. 

"Although we're sorry to say goodbye to the Reader Store, we're also glad to share the new and exciting future for our readers: Reader Store will transfer customers to Toronto-based eReading company, Kobo -- an admired eBook seller with a passionate reading community. We strongly believe that this transition will allow customers to enjoy a continued high-quality e-reading experience," reads a Reader Store blog post.

Existing Reader Store customers will be notified in March that they have the opportunity to re-download any e-books they purchased through the Reader Store, and continue on with the same library through Kobo.

The Future

The restructuring efforts don't spell the end for Sony, however. Sony's smartphone lineup is steadily gaining popularity as consumers look for alternatives to the established Samsung brand, and the company expects its TV business, which includes the popular Breaking Bad series, to begin to turn upward.

"We are beginning to see the path to a turnaround in our TV business," Hirai said. "TV remains an important category for Sony."

On the movie side of things, although Sony's 2013 flick, Captain Philips, was nominated for Best Picture Oscar, the number of blockbuster, financially successful hits the company released was lower than in 2012.