Sony to invest nearly $1 billion to increase CMOS image sensor production

Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp yesterday said that it would invest 80 billion yen ($997 million) in increasing production of image sensors as part of its strategy to boost income from digital imaging.

The Minato, Tokyo,-based company plans to invest in Sony Semiconductor Corporation's Nagasaki Technology Centre from 2013 through 2014 in order to increase production capacity for stacked CMOS image sensors.

CMOS image sensors are a stacked structure layer of the pixel section containing back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit for signal processing, in contrast to the supporting substrates used in conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors. 

These products enable Sony to mount large-scale circuits while decreasing the chip size of image sensors, thereby enhancing image quality and functionality and allowing for a more compact size for digital cameras and mobile devices.

Sony, which posted a record $5.6-billion loss last fiscal, said  that the investment will increase total production capacity for CCD and CMOS image sensors to approximately 60,000 wafers per month by the end of September 2013.

Sony said that the output will be sold to makers of smartphones and tablets PC's in light of the rapidly expanding demand for these devices and also use it into its own wide range of products for its digital imaging and mobile businesses, which are priorities within its electronics business.