Nikkei: Toshiba to Image Sensor Business to Sony

Nikkei reports that "Toshiba is in late-stage talks on selling its image sensor operations to Sony in a deal estimated at around 20 billion yen ($163 million)."

"Negotiations on the sale have reached an advanced stage. Toshiba is looking to divest its newest production facility in Oita, which can handle 300mm wafers. Besides production equipment, Sony would take over some employees as well as customer accounts, which include automakers and camera manufacturers.

Besides production equipment, Sony would take over some employees as well as customer accounts, which include automakers and camera manufacturers.

Toshiba would in effect withdraw from the image sensor market and concentrate its semiconductor investment on its more competitive memory business.

Toshiba's global market share in CMOS sensors came to just 1.9% last year, compared with 40.3% for Sony, according to Tokyo-based Techno Systems Research. Sony's investments in this business will

help it fend off rising competition from Samsung Electronics."

Reuters confirms this story, based on its own sources.

Another Nikkei article talks about Toshiba restructuring and its hard choices:

"Toshiba has little choice but to carry out a sweeping reorganization of its presence in semiconductors. It has turned to Sony, which once sold a portion of its semiconductor operations in Nagasaki to Toshiba, only to buy it back later.

Some workers at its Oita semiconductor operations in southern Japan would go to Sony as part of the image sensor business sale.

Muromachi [Masashi Muromachi, the new Toshiba President who started the re-org - ISW]once ran Toshiba's semiconductor operations in Oita."

The Japan Times quotes Yomiuri newspaper saying the deal will be officially announced next week.

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