Sharp Corp. plans to nearly double the number of employees at its mainstay Kameyema factory in Mie Prefecture that makes camera parts for smartphones, a senior company official said Thursday.

Sharp, restructuring under the ownership of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, will raise the number of employees at the plant to around 4,000 in July from the current 2,300.

The Osaka-based electronics-maker previously reduced its workforce at the plant due to sluggish sales by its liquid-crystal display panel business.

The company now plans to shift its overseas production to Kameyama and beef up production capacity at the plant, which also manufactures LCD panels and assembles televisions.

Camera parts are profitable for the company as they are used in Apple Inc.’s iPhones.

Sharp became Japan’s first major electronics-maker to come under foreign ownership after suffering massive losses.