Sony Image Sensor Plant Production Still on Hold After Kumamoto Earthquakes

Operations at Sony’s Kumamoto Technology Center in Kikuchi-gun, Japan, remained suspended Monday, after being halted following earthquakes in Kumamoto April 14. Damage to the site’s building and manufacturing lines “is currently being evaluated, and with aftershocks continuing, the timeframe for resuming operations has yet to be determined,” the company said in an emailed statement Monday. The semiconductor plant primarily makes image sensors for digital cameras and security cameras, plus micro-display devices, Sony said. Production has resumed after being temporarily halted at Sony’s Nagasaki Technology Center in Isahaya City, the company’s main facility for production of smartphone image sensors, the company said. And operations resumed April 17 at Oita Technology Center, which began operations April 1 as a wholly owned facility of Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. Sony’s Kagoshima Technology Center in Kirishima City has continued operations since the earthquakes with “no major effects on its operations,” the company said. Sony “confirmed the safety” of its employees in the regions affected by the earthquakes and said the financial impact on the company’s consolidated results is being evaluated.