Sony's Plant for Smartphone Cameras Halts After Japan Earthquake
MASHIKI, JAPAN - APRIL 16: (CHINA OUT, SOUTH KOREA OUT) Evacuees queue for food supply at an evacuation center set at Hiroyasu Elementary School on April 16, 2016 in Mashiki, Kumamoto, Japan. The magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Kyushu, just after the earthquake killed 9, at least 30 new fatalities by this earthquake, total death toll from the series of earthquakes rises to 39.
Photographer: The Asahi ShimbunThe earthquake in southern Japan that killed nine people, damaged buildings and derailed a bullet train also halted production at a Sony Corp. camera-chip factory, a key part of the global smartphone supply chain.
The plant in Kumamoto on the southern island of Kyushu is still being inspected, Sony said. The strength of the earthquake, as well as persistent aftershocks, are raising the risk that it will take time to restore operations, Kenichi Saita, an analyst at Mizuho Securities, wrote in a report.