Japan earthquakes will impact smartphones and camera makers worldwide

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The two recent devastating earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture of Kyushu Island impacted not only the lives of the local residents, but also phone manufacturers from all corners of the world. Sony in particular indicated that their image sensor production plant in Kumamoto will remain closed until further notice. Their second plant in Nagasaki will also see partial suspension of production at the same time.

Production at the Nagasaki plant is important as the factory produces the CMOS sensor used by 45% of the smartphones brands on the market now, including Apple, Samsung and more. The Kumamoto plant produces sensors mainly for digital cameras. Currently Sony has yet to comment about possible supply line disruption, but the impact of the earthquake will definitely be felt in the industry.

[Source]