Sony has announced plans to invest approximately one billion yen (A$1.2 billion) to double the production of image sensors for digital cameras and smart phones by the end of March 2012.

 

December 28, 2010: Sony has announced plans to invest approximately one billion yen (A$1.2 billion) to double the production of image sensors for digital cameras and smart phones by the end of March 2012.
According to a company announcement, part of the investment will be spent on re-purchasing a facility it sold to Toshiba in 2007 for 90 billion yen. To date, this foundry has been used for making processors for gaming consoles but will be converted to manufacture sensors. The company hopes to achieve an output capacity of 50,000 wafers/month by late March, 2012. The investment will be partially funded through government subsidies that reward businesses for environmentally-friendly practices.