UPDATE 1-Sony aims to make profit in LCD TV ops in FY10 - Nikkei

June 5 (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T) aims to make its LCD television segment profitable by fiscal 2010, Executive Deputy President Hiroshi Yoshioka told the Nikkei business daily.

The company will close factories and reduce design personnel to cut fixed costs, Yoshioka said.

The sharing of such basics as software and power circuitry was "accelerated six months ago, pushing up the original plan by a year," he said of another cost-saving measure, the daily reported.

The TV business "should break even or turn a profit in the second half of the current fiscal year, assuming that exchange rates and other conditions do not change drastically," the report quoted Yoshioka as saying. "We hope to maintain that trajectory in fiscal 2010."

In May, the company had said its TV operations would likely lose money for a sixth straight year but it aims to bring it to the break-even level in the second half.

Sony, which competes with Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS) in LCD TVs and Canon Inc (7751.T) in digital cameras, will also introduce products tailored to local preferences in a push to cultivate emerging markets, the paper reported. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)