The plants are run by Sony EMCS, a Sony Corporation subsidiary, and reportedly employ around 5,000 staff.
The Sony factory at Kohda, in the Aichi Prefecture, makes cameras – reported to be Cyber-shot compacts, as well as camera modules.
The Kohda plant is also understood to manufacture interchangeable lenses following the closure of a Sony EMCS site at Minokamo in the Gifu Prefecture that was announced in 2012.
Sony’s Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R cameras, however, are made in Thailand, according to a Sony representative in an interview with Amateur Photographer (AP) last year.
A Sony spokesperson today told AP: ‘Sony Group continues to review and evaluate its business to ensure it remains flexible and able to respond to the changing market environment.
‘This includes the review of Sony EMCS Corporation where we have identified an opportunity to optimise personnel resource, in order to drive further efficiency.’
Sony started offering early retirement to employees at all its Sony EMCS Corporation factories earlier this month, a programme that is expected to conclude in March.
