Sony said it aims to be profitable in gaming and flat-panel TVs by the fiscal year ending March 2011 as it slashes costs to turn around money-losing businesses.

"Our work is already bearing fruit," said Chief Executive Howard Stringer, in outlining Sony Corp.'s turnaround strategy at the electronics giant's Tokyo headquarters. "We still have more work to do."

The maker of the PlayStation game console is headed for its second straight year of losses in the current fiscal year ending March 2010, battered by the global slowdown and sliding prices of gadgets.

Stringer said Sony has been uniting its sprawling businesses, bringing together purchasing for parts and other supplies, for instance, which had been previously divided and less efficient.

He said the restructuring was progressing ahead of schedule, resulting in a 500 billion yen ($5.6 billion) reduction in procurement costs, a 20 percent improvement from the previous fiscal year.

Job cuts were also ahead of schedule, with head count reduced by 19,500 — or 12 percent — in the last year to 146,800 in September, Stringer said.

Sony said it will aim for 20 percent share of the global liquid-crystal display TV market by fiscal 2012.

New products in the works include 3-D TVs, targeting sales of more than 1 trillion yen ($11.2 billion) in 3-D related products by the fiscal year through March 2013, and PlayStation 3 game home consoles will all be upgraded to 3-D, according to Sony.

But the same rivals that Sony has struggled against are certain to develop similar products since 3-D technology is not overly complex.

The big challenge for the Japanese electronics and entertainment company is coming up with a blockbuster equivalent of the iconic portable Walkman player that was a hit in Sony's 1980s heyday.

Tokyo-based Sony has fallen behind amid intensifying global competition from Apple Inc. of the U.S. with its iPod, South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., from which Sony buys TV panels, and Japanese rival Nintendo Co., which makes the Wii.

Stringer, who has promised a quicker and more streamlined Sony since taking the helm in 2005, appointed a new management team earlier this year and promised to bring together Sony's sprawling empire spanning gaming, electronics and entertainment.