Sony's Decision to Close Mobile Phone Plant in China Not Tariff-Related, It Says

Sony’s decision to close its Beijing SE Potevio Mobile Communications (BMC) manufacturing plant in Beijing is part of a global plan announced in October to reduce operating costs incurred in fiscal year 2020 to about 50 percent of the level recorded in FY 2017, a Sony Electronics spokesperson emailed us. The Beijing plant was scheduled to cease operations by Sunday, said the spokesperson, and BMC offered a leave program to employees beginning March 20. Sony will continue to sell and market smartphones in China, “providing full company support,” said a company statement, and it will continue to manufacture phones in Thailand. U.S. tariffs didn’t factor into the decision to close the China plant, the spokesperson said.