Recent Industry News: Sony, SK Hynix

Sony separates production of cameras for China and non-China markets

Link: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Electronics/Sony-separates-production-of-cameras-for-China-and-non-China-markets

Sony Group has transferred production of cameras sold in the Japanese, U.S. and European markets to Thailand from China, part of growing efforts by manufacturers to protect supply chains by reducing their Chinese dependence. Sony’s plant in China will in principle produce cameras for the domestic market. Sony offers the Alpha line of high-end mirrorless cameras. The company sold roughly 2.11M units globally in 2022, according to Euromonitor. Of those, China accounted for 150,000 units, with the rest, or 90%, sold elsewhere, meaning the bulk of Sony’s Chinese production has been shifted to Thailand. Canon in 2022 closed part of its camera production in China, shifting it back to Japan. Daikin Industries plans to establish a supply chain to make air conditioners without having to rely on Chinese-made parts within fiscal 2023.

TOKYO -- Sony Group has transferred production of cameras sold in the Japanese, U.S. and European markets to Thailand from China, part of growing efforts by manufacturers to protect supply chains by reducing their Chinese dependence.

Sony's plant in China will in principle produce cameras for the domestic market. Until now, Sony cameras were exported from China and Thailand. The site will retain some production facilities to be brought back online in emergencies. 

After tensions heightened between Washington and Beijing, Sony first shifted manufacturing of cameras bound for the U.S. The transfer of the production facilities for Japan- and Europe-bound cameras was completed at the end of last year. 

Sony offers the Alpha line of high-end mirrorless cameras. The company sold roughly 2.11 million units globally in 2022, according to Euromonitor. Of those, China accounted for 150,000 units, with the rest, or 90%, sold elsewhere, meaning the bulk of Sony's Chinese production has been shifted to Thailand. 

On the production shift, Sony said it "continues to focus on the Chinese market and has no plans of exiting from China."

Sony will continue making other products, such as TVs, game consoles and camera lenses, in China for export to other countries. 

The manufacturing sector has been working to address a heavy reliance on Chinese production following supply chain disruptions caused by Beijing's zero-COVID policy.

Canon in 2022 closed part of its camera production in China, shifting it back to Japan. Daikin Industries plans to establish a supply chain to make air conditioners without having to rely on Chinese-made parts within fiscal 2023.

Sony ranks second in global market share for cameras, following Canon. Its camera-related sales totaled 414.8 billion yen ($3.2 billion) in fiscal 2021, about 20% of its electronics business.

SK Hynix reshuffles CIS team to focus on high-end products

Link: https://www.thelec.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=4379

SK Hynix has reshuffled its CMOS image sensor (CIS) team in a bid to shift focus from expanding market share to developing high-end products, TheElec has learned.

Its CIS team was a singular organization prior to the changes, but the company has now created sub-teams that focus on specific functions and features of image sensors.

Overall, the team is now more of a research and development team rather than sales and marketing.

CIS is used widely in smartphones and IT products for its camera features.

Sony’s is the world’s largest producer of the component followed by Samsung.

The pair focuses on high resolution and multi-functions and controls between 70% to 80% of the market together __ Sony is the overwhelming leader with around 50% market share.

SK Hynix is a smaller player in the field and in the past had focused on low-end CIS with 20MP or below resolution.

The company has however started to supply its CIS to Samsung in 2021. It provided its 13MP CIS for Samsung’s foldable phones and last year provided 50MP sensors for the Galaxy A series.

Still, the overall demand for CIS has dropped in recent years as smartphones that mainly use them are suffering from a slowdown in demand.

This has been especially poignant for mid-tier phones due to their unit prices dropping in response to low consumer demand.

SK Hynix has been reducing its CIS output in light of this and is also reducing its inventory, the sources said.