Recently Nihon Keizai Shimbun electronic version reported
the following:
ソニー、5Gにらみ半導体新工場 1000億円投資
エレクトロニクス
IoT モバイル・5G
2019/10/29 18:00日本経済新聞 電子版
ソニーは国内4拠点で画像センサーを製造している（熊本県菊陽町の子会社工場）
ソニーはスマートフォンのカメラなどに使う半導体画像センサーの新工場を長崎県内に建設する。1000億円規模を投じ、2021年度にも稼働する。ソニーは画像センサーの世界首位で、スマホカメラの高機能化や次世代通信規格「5G」の普及を背景に成長が続くと判断した。あらゆるモノがネットにつながる「IoT」時代の基幹部品で日本企業が攻めの投資に出る。
画像センサーはデジタルカメラや撮影機材、産業用ロボットなど幅広く採用され、「電子の目」とも呼ばれる。5Gや自動運転の普及、工場の自動化で、画像や映像をやりとりする需要が増える中、中核的な役割を果たす画像センサーの市場拡大が見込まれている。
米調査会社ICインサイツによると、国別の半導体全体のシェアで日本は1990年に49%あったが、韓国や台湾などの企業の攻勢を受け、18年に7%まで落ち込んだ。一方、半導体のうち画像センサーは構造が複雑で従来型の製造業のノウハウが生かせるとされる。ソニーは商用化で先駆け、世界シェアの5割を握る。2位の韓国サムスン電子も投資に動く中、新工場建設で25年度までにシェアを6割に高めサムスンを突き放す狙いだ。
ソニーが工場を建設するのは長崎県諫早市の既存工場の隣接地。7万4800平方メートルの土地に建設し、スマホ向けの「CMOS（相補性金属酸化膜半導体）イメージセンサー」を量産する。
半導体の新工場は16年に東芝から大分県の工場を取得し稼働させて以来、約5年ぶり。ゼロからの工場建設は07年の熊本県の第2工場以来となる。
ソニーは国内4拠点でスマホカメラ用の画像センサーを生産し、生産能力（300ミリウエハー換算）は月10万枚程度。21年3月までに月13万枚に引き上げる計画を掲げている。これまで既存工場のライン増強や効率化に取り組んできたが、需要拡大に対応し新工場で生産能力を上積みする。能力は今後詰めるが、21年度から順次拡大し、最終的に月産数万枚規模になるとみられる。
新工場建設を決断した背景には、複数のカメラを搭載したスマホが定着し始めたことがある。米アップルの「iPhone」の最新機種では3眼のカメラが搭載されている。画像や動画を共有するインスタグラムなどのSNS（交流サイト）の広がりで5万円前後の中価格帯のスマホでも性能の高いカメラを搭載し始めた。ソニーの画像センサーへの引き合いは高まっている。
米調査会社IDCによると、19年のスマホ出荷台数は前年比2%減の13億7000万台にとどまるが、20年は4年ぶりの増加に転じる見通し。今後は5G対応スマホの普及に伴い、データ容量の大きい動画撮影の需要が高まると予想される。自動運転や工場のロボット需要の拡大が市場の拡大を後押しする。
ソニーの半導体事業を巡っては、米投資ファンドのサード・ポイントが分離・独立を要求しているが、ソニーは応じていない。同事業の19年3月期の営業利益は約1439億円で全体（連結調整前）の15%を占める。ソニーは新工場建設で画像センサーを本体の成長を担う事業と改めて位置づけ、サード・ポイントの要求を拒む姿勢が鮮明になる。
景気の先行指標とされる半導体を巡っては、5Gの普及を見据え投資を増やす動きが出ている。台湾積体電路製造（TSMC）は7～9月期に5四半期ぶりの営業増益となり、19年の設備投資を例年の4～5割増となる1.5兆～1.6兆円に上方修正した。
Translation
Sony to manufacture image sensors at four locations in Japan
(a subsidiary factory in Kikuyo-cho, Kumamoto Prefecture)
Sony would build a new factory in Nagasaki for semi-conductor
image sensors used in smartphone cameras. The company would invest 100 billion
yen that could be operational in 2021. Sony was the world's top image sensor
and had determined that growth might continue against the backdrop of
higher-function smartphone cameras and the spread of the next-generation communication
standard “5G”. Japanese companies were making aggressive investments in the key
components of the IoT era where everything would be connected to the Internet.
Image sensors was widely used in digital cameras,
photography equipment, industrial robots, etc., and were also called
“electronic eyes”. With the spread of 5G, autonomous driving and the automation
of factories, the markets for image sensors that could play a central role was
expected to expand as demand for image and video exchange increased.
According to a US research company IC Insights, Japan
accounted for 49% of the total semiconductor shared by all countries in 1990,
but fell to 7% in 2018 due to the challenges from companies in Korea and Taiwan
etc. On the other hand, the image sensor as a kind of semiconductors had a
complicated structure, and it was expected that it could make use of
conventional manufacturing know-how. Sony pioneered commercialization and held
50% of the world share. While South Korea Samsung Electronics, ranking second, was
also investing, and the company aimed to push Samsung up to a 60% height in
share by FY2015 by building a new factory.
Sony would build a factory next to an existing factory in
Isahaya City, Nagasaki Prefecture. It would be built on a 74,800 square meters
of land and would mass-produce "CMOS (complementary metal oxide
semiconductor) image sensors" for smartphones.
This was the first semiconductor factory in 5 years since
the acquisition of a factory in Oita Prefecture from Toshiba in 2016.
Construction of the factory from scratch would be the first time since the
second factory in Kumamoto Prefecture in 2007.
Sony produced image sensors for smartphone cameras at four
locations in Japan, with a production capacity (300 mm wafer equivalent) of
about 100,000 pieces per month. The plan was to raise the number to 130,000 per
month by March 2021. Up to now, the company would be working on line
enhancement and efficiency improvement of the existing plant, but it could
increase production capacity at the new plant in response to growing demand.
Although its capacity could be crammed from now on, it was expected to expand
gradually from FY2021 and finally reach tens of thousands of sheets per month.
Behind the decision to build a new factory was that
smartphones with multiple cameras had begun to take root. The latest Apple
iPhone model had a three-lens camera. With the spread of social networking
sites (SNS) such as Instagram that shared images and videos, high-performance
cameras had begun to be installed even on mid-priced smartphones at around
50,000 yen. Inquiries for Sony's image sensors were growing.
According to a US research company IDC, the number of
smartphone shipments in 2019 decreased by 2% from the previous year to 1.37
billion units, but in 2020 years it was expected to start to increase for the
first time in 4 years. In the future, with the spread of 5G-compatible
smartphones, it was expected that demand for moving images with large data
capacity might increase. Autonomous driving and increased demand for factory
robots could support market expansion.
Regarding Sony's semiconductor business, the Third Point, a
US investment fund demanded Sony’s separation and independence, but Sony did
not respond. Operating profit for this business in FY March /2019 was
approximately 143.9 billion yen, accounting for 15% of the total (before
adjustment for consolidation). Sony had re-positioned image sensors as a
business responsible for the growth of the main body in the construction of a
new factory, and the attitude of rejecting requests from Third Point became
clear.
With regard to semiconductors, which were the leading indicators
of the economy, there was a movement to increase investment in anticipation of
the spread of 5G. Taiwan Mazda Electric Circuit Manufacturing (TSMC) increased
its operating profit for the first time in five quarters in the July-September
period, and revised upward its capital investment for 2019 to between 1.5
trillion and 1.6 trillion yen, a 40-50% increase over the previous year.
So, Sony is
investing heavily on the production of image sensors.
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