Sony and TSMC form joint venture for camera sensors
Sony is going "fab light": Future sensors, not just for smartphones, will be manufactured in Japan together with TSMC.
Sony's 24-megapixel sensor for the A9 III with Global Shutter.
(Image: Sony)
Sony and TSMC have signed a memorandum of understanding for further joint chip factories. The joint venture, not yet named, will produce “next-generation image sensors”; the two companies have not yet revealed more about the technology.
However, according to identical statements from Sony and TSMC, Sony will lead the new company. The first joint sensor factory is to be built in the city of Koshi on Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island. The first joint factory of the two companies, for which they already founded another joint venture in 2021, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Inc. (JASM), is already located in Kumamoto Prefecture. Mass production has been running in this chip factory since the end of 2024.
Sensor prime and semiconductor master united
Sony is considered one of the world's largest manufacturers of camera sensors and is technologically leading in many areas. One example is the A9 III system camera, which can capture 120 frames per second in Raw format with Global Shutter – Sony has not yet made its sensor available to any other company. Sony also produces image converters for cine cameras, smartphones, cars, and robots. A year ago, there were rumors that Sony wanted to sell its sensor division, which the company denied. Until now, Sony has primarily manufactured the sensors itself but had already outsourced part of the production to JASM.
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This is now to be accelerated. As Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki said on Friday, according to Bloomberg in a round with analysts, the new joint venture is “our first step to becoming fab-light” for the company. This can be interpreted to mean that Sony does not intend to give up its semiconductor manufacturing but wants to increasingly operate it with partners. As early as January, Sony had founded another joint venture with the Chinese company TCL, which will in the future manufacture televisions under the Sony brand, among other things. Here too, the Japanese retained a majority of the shares, but the manufacturing of the devices – apparently unlike the sensors – is being completely outsourced.
(nie)
