Makiko Yamasaki writing for Reuters:

Electronics giant Sony Corp said a factory producing image sensors for smartphone makers will remain closed while it assesses the damage from two deadly earthquakes which hit southern Japan. One of its major customers is Apple, which uses the sensors in its iPhones.

As Sony assesses damages from the Thursday and Saturday earthquakes, they’ve closed their image sensor plant in Kumamoto (pictured above) while operations at their Nagasaki plant, also in Kyushu, have been partially suspended. According to a Sony spokesmen:

We are not expecting any immediate supply disruption as we have some inventories right now. We will make an announcement promptly if any supply issues emerge.

Apple most recently launched iPhone SE which, like the iPhone 6s, utilizes a 12-megapixel Sony image sensor. In addition to the two plants mentioned, Sony also operates two other image sensor plants in Japan which have been unaffected by the earthquakes. Luckily no one was hurt at either plant which usually operate on a 24-hour basis.

Discuss:

Do you think this will impact the company’s bottom line?

[Via Reuters]