Japan's Sony Corporation plans to make 600,000 to 700,000 premium smartphones in the first year at its new wholly owned plant in Thailand, which began production in September.
The launch of its first foreign mobile phone plant in 20 years is part of Sony's strategy to turn around its loss-making mobile business by prioritising profits over volume and shifting its focus to high-end smartphones.
Teeradej Pruksawananon, a spokesman for Sony in Thailand, said the firm began small-scale production of its premium smartphone models including the Xperia Z3 two months ago and started shipping them globally last month.
Initial investment at the site in Pathum Thani province was several billion yen, he said without specifying the exact amount.
"Sony finds it easier to implement cutting-edge technologies at its own plant to produce such phones," a Sony spokeswoman in Tokyo said.
Sony currently makes most of its smartphones at its joint venture in China.
Its investment comes at a critical time for Thailand as the government struggles to revive Southeast Asia's second-largest economy in the wake of last year's military coup, with exports and domestic demand sluggish.
Thailand has become a major manufacturing base for Japan's high-tech sector, with Sony and Nikon Corporation investing in plants in recent years.
Last week, Sony's second-quarter operating profit came to ¥88 billion (25.7 billion baht), its highest in eight years, driven by video game sales that helped to neutralise a fall in smartphone sales and keep the company on a recovery track. REUTERS