Sony Corporation has issued an official news release in regards to the status of their manufacturing companies in Japan after the Kumamoto earthquakes. Having confirmed the safety of their employees in the affected regions, Sony has listed out a few details of the manufacturing sites that have been impacted as result of the earthquake.
Sony’s semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, which primarily manufactures image sensors for cameras, had seen its production halted after the earthquake and has yet to be started again. According to Sony, damage to the site is currently being evaluated, but the timeframe for resuming has yet to be confirmed. Sony’s main facility for smartphone image sensors in Nagasaki and its sister-site, Oita Technology Center, had its operations suspended but production had resumed on April 17th.
Currently there is no news as to how or if this will affect Apple’s current or future product line-up, specifically the dual-camera rumored to be integrated into the iPhone 7. TSMC, one of Apple’s chipmakers, was also affected by earthquakes back in February. Seeing a long-term loss impact of around less than 1% for 2016 production, TSMC remained confident they would be able to hit revenue targets. That earthquake which was responsible for the deaths of 116, and injuring countless others, also saw major damages to multiple other manufacturing plants around Taiwan.
Update: Reuters is reporting that Hiroyuki Shimizu, principal research analyst at Gartner has stated that,”The impact of the Kumamoto plant suspension on Apple is expected to be limited.”
Image Credit: REUTERS/Yuya Shino
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This is a bit of a heartless post.
Granted this is a tech website and are obviously concerned about the manufacturing plants, but some sensitivity needs to be included for those suffering in that area…
Of which, there are 41 reported deaths in total, 968 reported injured, more than 91,700 evacuated from their homes!!!
The factories are the least of their concerns… thankfully though their nuclear plants are ok.
It was a difficult item to post. My condolences go out to all affected above all, but I knew there were readers that would also wonder if it was producing a negative impact on Apple’s products.
To me, none of that matters. Earthquakes destroy facilities yes, but they destroy lives more than that.
I felt I was in a catch-22 scenarios here. I wanted to report how it impacted the world in which we write here, but I wasn’t quite sure how to do that without making it seem like I was over-editorializing.
It’s ok… I understand… I think how you did it was on the right path – maybe just showing a bit more heart at the end and reporting more accurately on the matter – and even adding a link so people can donate.
That way you still have the main post of how it has had a knock on effect to the rest of the world, but also show awareness to the level of destruction it’s caused to those who live there.
Agreed. I had added acknowledgment at the end, but then deleted it before publishing. It’s my first article touching on a subject area like this so I wasn’t 100% sure how to proceed.
I’m glad you spoke up because now I know that for other cases similar to this (fingers crossed it won’t happen) I WILL take those thoughts into consideration and apply them. Thank you.
This isn’t a general news site, or a friend on Facebook. The only reason 9to5 is even talking about this is because it effects the tech industry, so expect that slant to the news. I think it’s a better idea to assume that the writers are not heartless and unfeeling.
Given that I live in Japan, and given that i lived through the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, it is a very difficult subject matter.
Regardless of whether or not this is a general news site – it did come across as “let’s just stick to techie stuff and forget the rest” …
The writer as responded to my original comment, and i now totally understand where he is coming from — it’s not easy to report on and find the balance…but at least he replied and he was able to explain the situation.
I do believe he has a heart, but given that kyushu is still being hit by earthquakes and they are in desperate need of help and support – a bit more heart towards the end of the piece would have been nice (he wouldn’t have been reporting on the general news, but showing his and 9to5’s support)