Semis move to core of Sony
A Semiconductor Solutions Network company will be set up to direct this. The objective will be to increase the ratio of semiconductor and key devices produced within the Sony group.
Starting this financial year (2003), some JPY1tr will be spent on semiconductor investment and R&D over three years. About JPY500bn will be spent on capital investment for production of the company’s CELL media processor and imaging devices (CCD and CMOS).
In Japan, the focus of manufacturing will shift from assembly to producing key devices and semiconductors with "high added value".
For the group as a whole, some 20,000 jobs will be shed – 7000 in Japan – over three years. The total number of people working for Sony in March 2003 was 154,500, excluding the company’s finance activities.
