There have been talks that Sony is considering exiting the mobile business. After all it’s safe to say that unlike the other Android OEMs out there, Sony definitely does not have the same clout that the rest have, or at least it no longer does. However according to a report from Nikkei, it seems that Sony is anything but exiting the smartphone business.
The report claims that Sony will be launching a new smartphone factory in Thailand. Making it the first new factory for mobile devices that Sony has opened in 20 years. If anything this seems to suggest that Sony is renewing and growing their mobile business as opposed to closing it down or selling it off.
The last mobile factory Sony built was in 1995 in Beijing where it was built with three local partners, with Sony owning a 51% interest. However the one in Thailand will be wholly owned by Sony, meaning that decisions can be made faster and full control should allow for speedier production.
That being said, this does seem to go against a report from earlier this month, in which Sony’s CEO Kazu Hirai was quoted as saying that Sony’s mobile division had basically one year to break even, otherwise other scenarios would be considered. One of those possibilities that has been rumored for a long time would be to sell it off, like they did their VAIO computing business, but either hopefully with their renewed efforts, Sony will be here to stay.
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