Kazuhiro Tsuga, approved by shareholders as Panasonic president on June 27, told a media briefing in Tokyo that the company would prepare a new business plan by this autumn and a detailed plan on 90 business units by February, acknowledging that the company has many business units undermining its profitability.

Tsuga, 55, took over the sprawling consumer electronics giant after it posted a record annual net loss, including costs to restructure its business to stem the flow of red ink from its TV unit.

Tsuga's task at the maker of Viera sets will be to boost revenue at other divisions, including appliances and batteries, to make up for shrinking consumer electronic revenues and create profit centers for a post-TV future.

That retooling, including shifting more production overseas, may involve painful job cuts in a bloated workforce of 330,000.

($1 = 79.5300 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Chris Gallagher)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency