Tokyo ? Sony Corp. is slashing 20,000 jobs, or about 13 percent of its global work force, in the next three years to cut costs as part of a turnaround strategy aimed at reviving the huge electronics and entertainment company’s lagging profits.

Sony said Tuesday the turnaround plan would boost efficiency and better integrate its entertainment, video game and consumer electronics businesses.

Sony said 7,000 of the job cuts would be in Japan, but gave no further regional breakdowns or other details. Sony employs about 154,500 people worldwide.

It plans to integrate overlapping administrative and corporate jobs to increase efficiency. An example would be relocating U.S. electronics and marketing operations divided between the West and East Coasts to the West Coast. In Europe, it would bring together consumer electronics marketing groups to a new location in Britain.

One Sony executive suggested the plan was designed as a “Big Bang” catalyst for new business.

Sony has been reviewing its strategy as cheaper rivals such as Korea’s Samsung and Dell Inc. of the United States have chipped away at its profits.

Sony also said Tuesday it would set up a $2 billion joint venture with Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea to develop liquid crystal display panels. A final agreement is expected by early next year, the companies said.

Analysts said the cuts were a positive move but cautioned that Sony needs to show in action it can become more profitable.

Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei has a moment of silence after he announced Sony's new strategy. The company is trimming 20,000 jobs in the next three years as part of a turnaround strategy. Idei announced the plan Tuesday in Tokyo.

“It’s a clear and simple plan, and it’s easy to understand,” said Kazuya Yamamoto, analyst with UFJ Tsubasa Securities Co. in Tokyo. “The question is whether Sony can carry it out. They’re just getting started.”

The plan includes bringing together engineers in the company’s home and mobile electronics sectors to beef up development of computer chips and devices, Sony said.

Speaking to reporters at a Tokyo hotel, Sony officials said they were presenting a two-stage plan to cut costs and get growth going.

“It may appear as though Sony is being sucked into a black hole,” Sony executive deputy president Ken Kutaragi said, showing a slide that had a black dot in the middle of a sky with images depicting Sony’s electronics, game and entertainment sectors. “But we hope to create a ‘Big Bang’ that will lead to new business.”