Sony is building its first new phone factory in 20 years

Sony Mobile may be in the middle of a tough spell in its history but the company is still looking to its mobile future and plans to open its first new smartphone factory in 20 years in Thailand. Dedicated to Sony’s mobile business, the factory will have a start-to-finish production system that’s designed to cover the entire manufacturing process from chip mounting to assembly.

[related_videos align=”left” type=”custom” videos=”650057,640044,639843,639841″]Production at the new factory is expected to begin next year and Sony plans to use the plant to manufacture several million Xperia smartphones per year. According to a report from Nikkei, initial investment in the factory is expected to total several billion yen and this will be Sony’s first plan since building a plant in Beijing in 1995.

Sony’s mobile division posted an operating loss of $1.82 billion (220 billion yen) in the year ending in March but plans to turn performance around through a series of measures. The company has just launched its new Xperia Z5 and Z5 compact smartphones and is set to launch the world’s first 4K smartphone – the Xperia Z5 Premium – in the coming weeks and with further flagships down the road, the company may yet be able to turn its performance around.