It’s no secret that Sony‘s smartphone business is facing some trying times. The Japanese manufacturer has publicly floated the idea of leaving the mobile industry if its fortunes don’t make a turn for the better in 2016 – which makes it all the more interesting to report that Sony is building a new smartphone factory in Thailand, its first dedicated mobile manufacturing plant in 20 years. The factory is expected to be ready to start churning out several million smartphones a year by the start of the 2016 financial year – and the bill footed for the factory is expected to reach several billion yen.
The fact that Sony is building a new mobile factory and appears to only do so rarely suggests that they are planning to be in the mobile game for quite a bit longer, which does send a bit of a mixed message based on CEO Kazuo Hirai’s comments earlier this month. Still, perhaps a failure to each profitability in 2016 might just mean a direction change for Sony’s mobile business rather than an outright exit – only time will tell.
What do you think about Sony building a new mobile factory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Nikkei via XperiaBlog
