Sony: Semiconductor business investment to decrease by 30% year-on-year in the next three years

Sony Group's semiconductor division recently announced that it plans to invest about 650 billion yen (4.14 billion U.S. dollars) in capital expenditures in the three years ending March 2027, about 30% less than the previous three years. Sony Semiconductor Solutions mainly produces image sensors for smartphone cameras. The company is cutting investment due to declining profitability, including setbacks in a new mass production line using cutting-edge technology.

President and CEO Terushi Shimizu said in a May 31 speech that in the three years to March this year, "investment efficiency declined and there are still problems in improving profitability."

"We plan to make full use of our existing assets and intend to carefully evaluate our investment opportunities over the next three years," he said.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions' operating profit fell 9% to 193.5 billion yen in fiscal 2023. Its operating profit margin fell 3 percentage points to 12%.

The company also said on May 31 that it started construction of a new factory on a 370,000 square meter site in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan in April this year. The company will decide the schedule for installing chip manufacturing equipment based on the demand for image sensors and flexibly respond to any future market expansion.

The plant is close to another Sony Group factory and a new chip manufacturing plant being built by TSMC.

Ziji Micro Network