Sony Falls as JPMorgan Questions Bull Case for Image Sensors

  • Consumers are opting for cheaper phones without dual cameras
  • Sony is boosting production of image sensors by March 2018
Photographer: Michael Short/Bloomberg
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Sony Corp.’s lucrative smartphone-camera business may be heading for a slowdown.

The Tokyo-based company’s image sensor business is likely to weaken amid slowing momentum for Apple Inc.’s iPhones, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote as he downgraded the company to neutral from overweight. IPhone X production will probably fall 50 percent quarter over quarter and the weakness is likely to continue for the first half of the year as demand for high-end smartphones plateaus, according to J.J. Park. Sony shares fell as much as 5.2 percent by midday in Tokyo.