UPDATE: Miracle! Sony just restarted the A77 and NEX-7 production!
Image on top: The Sony Chonburi factory
Sankei.jp (Click here) reports that the camera production restarted at the end of last week! Sony is using the Chonburi factory in Thailand which usually produces car radio. Now they “transformed” it into a fully operable A77/65 and NEX-7/5n production factory. Sankei also reports that Sony will move the compact camera production in China.
Some of our japanese readers can confirm the news? If it is true than dear Sony managers and workers…Chapeau!
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Comment from Nick: CD players have optical devices in them....
Comment from Howe: At least most of products are from China...
Comment from Filmproduktion: I hope the NEX 7 will arrive in january ...
Comment from Jim: "scaring to find radio"
should be
"sc...
b shaw
7 months ago |That’s good news! Thanks.
sonyboy68
7 months ago |BRAVO SONY !
ussi
7 months ago |Yipe! But is it a good news? Sony made some hasty move just not to lose market. Radios do not seem to need such dust-free conditions as cameras and lenses, and has Sony got time and adapted the technical environment?
Geir
7 months ago |Just wondering. Do you think you know more about this than Sony – who have produced electronics for many decades? If they have decided to use another factory, I’m pretty sure that they have taken the correct measurements to ensure the same quality as in the previous plant. They have engineers, quality control and a reputation to uphold.
Vlad
7 months ago |Everybody makes mistakes. I wonder where were those “engineers, quality control and a reputation” when they released the A77 with that crappy firmware.
LEdgars
7 months ago |Are you, Geir, scaring to find radio in your A77 or Nex7?
Jim
7 months ago |“scaring to find radio”
should be
“scared of finding a radio”
HRH
7 months ago |“If they have decided to use another factory, I’m pretty sure that they have taken the correct measurements to ensure the same quality as in the previous plant.”
my take:
if they have decided to use another factory, they made the call that it would be over all more costly to take the loss of sales than handle the increased customer service and pr-related issues from less than perfect products.
you see this all the time, especially in consumer oriented industries; it is prefered to deliver units rather than quality.
jyun
7 months ago |Japanese speaker here…
Yup that is largely correct, production has started at the other factory. Although they still have no dates on when they can release the cameras.
And slight correction, they aren’t building new factories, but looking at possible locations that they can shift production to.
Good news for all of us. Cheers!
Linh
7 months ago |A shame about Thailand, but the show must go on! I hope Sony won’t move the entire production to China though.
santela
7 months ago |China, Thailand, what’s the difference? Nikon makes a lotta lenses in China, and they are top quality.
Jerry Suppan
7 months ago |Labor costs, different cultures… two differences for starters. Do your research.
sinan
7 months ago |I’m pretty sure he means that the old factory is losing its business… if true then the people might, probably not the case, also lose their jobs … which would suck!!!
David
7 months ago |Work ethic and reliability. At least Thai people are hard working, more honourable and reliable than ‘made in China’.
ObviousTroll
7 months ago |Yeah! Screw the Chinese. Thai power!
Howe
7 months ago |At least most of products are from China, youre just softheads
LifeStoryImages
7 months ago |Impressive! Knew they weren’t just sitting on their hands.
Jerry Suppan
7 months ago |Wow. Now, how did you know that?
quailty matters
7 months ago |not really a good news,,,,, camera is very different from the car radio….
im expecting a lot of defects from that factory..
Don Cox
7 months ago |As the factory is in Thailand, they will presumably be using the same staff. So there is no reason to expect more defects.
It would be interesting to know how much equipment and stocks of parts Sony was able to move out of the old factory before the water rose. They did have some warning.
Dulaney Ward
7 months ago |I agree–there is no reaason to expect defects.
And I believe that they did have warning. It was a good month ago, not long azfter the flooding began, that Sony announced that they intended to move the camera operation to another plant in Thailand.
stoplis
7 months ago |Yes! *Does a little dance* Just get them sent to Warehouse Express so I can have mine!
doredore
7 months ago |Yes, I can confirm the translation was correct. But the article also added that the shipment schedule of new mirrored and mirrorless products is still TBA.
Tofa
7 months ago |WOOOO I hope this is true!
Jerry Suppan
7 months ago |From what I can discern from the original source not translated, (I read Japanese http://sankei.jp.msn.com/economy/news/111114/biz11111419140020-n1.htm )
yes, production is to commence at the Chonburi plant. (Chonburi is close to Pattaya a couple hours south of Bangkok) Car audio production is to be substituted by production of DSLR / SLT cameras. To what extent they have production capacity at the Chonburi plant I have not a clue but the article states that there is no forecast in site as to when production can resume at the industrial park in Ayutthaya (ancient Thai capital) which IS the major production center.
Fortunately, for me, I found a few units of Alpha 65 available through New York and ordered from there and re-imported back into Tokyo. And, with the yen as strong as it is, purchasing products sold in cheap USD, it’s a buyer’s market for us here in Japan at the moment. In spite of shipping and consumption tax paid, I am still coming out about ¥13,000 ahead of what the planned sale price for the same product here will be in Japan when (if) they start sales here.
JonasM
7 months ago |Very cool. Chonburi is a much better location with great highways and close access to the regions largest sea port. No flood there either
Ben
7 months ago |I am a Japanese-English translator.
That is basically what the original article says. While it doesn’t mention camera models specifically, it says the factory was retooled for the production of DSLRs, the production of which began from last week.
On October 30 there was a Japanese article saying that Sony was considering this move, so it looks like they went ahead with it.
astro8
7 months ago |Thanks man.
extra|ordinary
7 months ago |If this is indeed so, holy sh!t that was fast!
sinan
7 months ago |i wouldn’t be surprised … big international companies like sony, have procedures to ensure that in case of natural disasters they can move their entire lines, damaged or not, to another site, temporarily until a full a solution has been reached.
Doug
7 months ago |In any case it seems certain that the industrial park in Ayutthaya is finished unless they install massive flood control structures. I doubt any company will want to move back there after this.
Carlos Echenique
7 months ago |This is what I was talking about when I spoke of contingency planning. Sony was not caught flat-footed. Now I can wait patiently for my NEX-7.
Petty
7 months ago |Wondering if production in China will solve the problem of image softness in the corners? I know it’s because the register distance is too short but China is the land of mysticism so maybe they can come up with something.
Geir
7 months ago |If not, then India. Maybe Hindusim can have a positive effect?
I’ll take the nex 7 even if it’s not blessed by the major religions though.
RTI
7 months ago |I LOLED
Ollder
7 months ago |+1 (a77)
oppel
7 months ago |Philly
7 months ago |I confirm Ben’s note. I am a Japanese and the article says Sony started producing their mirrorless (=degital single lens cameras)! Whoooooaaaaaaa!
REVENGE
7 months ago |Naisu naisu naisu!
Junior
7 months ago |Too late, got my nex5n and it’s brilliant
Aldo
7 months ago |best choice!
Aldo
7 months ago |I think this story is being rushed because only mentioned SRL (which is very general), but no mention of the NEX …
kent wait
7 months ago |Is that really so flexible? Could transform the workflow might be easy. But the factory also need the machine and the raw material. Is that also to be prepared in this narrow time?
SONY calm down……
Just make sure every function at the NEX7 would be OK?
Carl
7 months ago |Sony, who for 14 days have had to stop production on interchangeable lens digital cameras due to flooding in Thailand, have announced they are moving production to a different factory in Thailand.
Because the factory within Ayutthaya’s high-tech industrial park which produces almost all of their interchangeable lens digitals is nowhere near resuming production, they have moved production to their car audio production plant in the Amata industrial park in Chonburi.
For their compact digital cameras, they are considering alternative factories in locations such as China and Japan.
Sony’s digital interchangeable lens and mirrorless cameras were expected to go on sale on the 11th of November, however their launch was postponed due to the flooding in Thailand. Right now their new release date is still undecided.
Ben
7 months ago |The “14 days” bit is actually the date of the announcement.
That is, “On November 14th, Sony announced that…”
Spot on apart from that.
Carl
7 months ago |Whoops, you’re right. Too late to edit it now.
Mike
7 months ago |Impressive. They re-located to a car-audio plant. Newly produced A77s will have 4×60 Watt output, play DVD/MP3/DIVX/CD-R/AAC, and feature front-USB-connectors.
knurd
7 months ago |LOL, we can only hope
Carl
7 months ago |Rated outputs are a bunch of shameless lies anyway. It’d be like saying a camera could do ISOs into the hundreds of thousands…..oh wait.
Cadam
7 months ago |if they could only put “there” 24bit Burr Brown JPEG Quality Noise Reduction Improving Image Chips … that would be awesome…
not those 1bit DAC’s… which are all so noisy … 
Carl
7 months ago |And you pay big money for the Burr Brown chip model, only to find the chip is a rebadged Nippon Precision Circuits one, which performs terribly. Audiophilia is all about lying artfully.
Geir
7 months ago |I prefer Burr grinders, but thats just me
Meaty
7 months ago |Great.!
They can keep producing cameras with poor high iso and muddy jpegs!
Yahhhh
pancanikonpus
7 months ago |Good news! getting a77 kit hope revival
but sony still needs other factories to supply components, and if other factories still stuck, then we will not see so fast the end product
Kevin
7 months ago |A77 well worth the wait, don’t believe all the crap on the internet and just because two people agree don’t make it right, In real life shooting this is a great camera !! IQ is awesome – detail – resolution and the higher iso’s are not that bad and they clean up very very good…
The negative stuff is really people over emphasizing very little issues
Bryan
7 months ago |Well played, Carl. Well played.
Kevin
7 months ago |Funny Mike… In fact I think mine has blue tooth as well
matgay
7 months ago |sony so fast in recovering, hope they will be fast in responding to customer demands… nex6N!!! nex9!!!
Paul
7 months ago |This is exactly what I said two weeks ago. Sony engineers should have been able to figure out exactly what parts were most likely recoverable and arrange all equipment at new factory so that the moment flood waters receded, they could salvage bits, jigs, molds, etc. and transplant to other facility immediately. Anyways, this talk about February and March release for the NEX-7 really pissed me off, so I just settled with my NEX-5n and I am going to wait for next model after the 7.
Chris Lewis
7 months ago |Well done Sony!
Xian
7 months ago |Hope they are able to keep the quality high. Producing radios differs much from producing high end optical products. Amazing, where do the get the machines, the must be all flooded?
Nick
5 months ago |CD players have optical devices in them. It’s not like they were making tube radios in that plant. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit concerned about defects as well. I like to see some interior pictures from the factory.
Chris
7 months ago |iam just happy i got my a77 when it was released for around 1 551 USD in denmark
AnegaTanega
7 months ago |And 2.0 fw? ;-(
Ollder
7 months ago |Not exists. Just a rumor which is shot down a long time ago! Of course it can come some day, if A77 lives long enough
AnegaTanega
7 months ago |Really? And Sony hopes to sell many A77 with these on-camera jpg? OMG…! ;-(
SonyA77
7 months ago |You’re new to Sony, aren’t you…
Jesse Lim
7 months ago |Hope my A850 Battery grip will ship in time coz Sony Center said they have no stock and have to wait due to to flood… Btw, I love my A77~
ronin
7 months ago |A minor story that seeks to save face for a company that caught flat-footed when it comes to having comprehensive contingency plans.
Specialized equipment doesn’t grow on trees, nor does this say anything about the ability of critical suppliers to deliver.
Most importantly, Sony announced many months ago production of a new product, the NEX-7, of which they failed to deliver even one model to one consumer. We normally assume a good stock of product anticipating announcement- Nikon is able to supply two series 1 camera models, lenses and accessories within a week or two. Meantime, we have no evidence to assume that Sony actually ever started production of one production NEX-7.
I’m still on the waiting list, but I’ve learned I’m an idiot if I simply believe face-saving press releases.
Ollder
7 months ago |Wow, good to see you know better. There is no production, really!?
And if I receive my A77, I have better to return it cause it’s fake and a lie. Nasty SONY just annoys me…
Thanks for educating me
ronin
7 months ago |Wow, good to see you know better! There has been NEX-7 production? Really? Which retail outlet sold consumer NEX-7 number one?
HateHaters
7 months ago |>>’I’m still on the waiting list, but I’ve learned I’m an idiot if I simply believe face-saving press releases.’
Ronin I don’t won’t to comment on the idiot part. I’ll leave my judgement on that to myself. But you are certainly a hater that has no respect for hard work and good engineering. So, much hard work and so many engineering hours have gone into developing this product and here you have no hesitation when it comes to trashing a well-respected brand for sth that’s not even their fault.
>>’A minor story that seeks to save face for a company that caught flat-footed when it comes to having comprehensive contingency plans.’
I am very curious to here what type of a contingency plan Sony should have had for the worst flood in 50 years. Add on top of this that they were already hit hard and managed to rebound back from one of the worst earthquakes in history. So, what should Sony have done. Well you’re right I guess they could have weather-sealed their Nex factory. Or they could have built a back-up factory that sat idle waiting to start production if a historical flood or earthquake happened. Or they could have produced millions of cameras and stock piled 6 months of cameras just in case it rains too much. I am sure it was just laziness and bad planning on Sony. Or else how hard can it be to stock pile 6 months of Nex-7, Nex-5, A77, A65 (all new models) cameras. Bad bad Sony! Well you know it all Ronin don’t you!
Guido
7 months ago |I’m also sceptical. In a previous statement Sony said, that they consider to relocate the production to another factory, but that they would need 6-7 months to setup the production elsewhere. That’s a plausible timeframe to setup an industrial production line. And now 2 weeks are enough to get the production running again? No way. Absolutely no way.
I’ve also preordered the NEX-7 and I would be very, very happy, if the production is running again. But it’s absolutely impossible to establish a real production line in just 2 weeks. Maybe Sony can produce a very low quantity by hand with an improvisational production process. But I’m sure that Sony can not produce normal quantities in a normal production line.
GunnarK
7 months ago |Guido,
If you are going to SLANDER someone, like Sony in your case, make sure to check and double-check that what you are going to accuse them for is correct. AT LEAST you ought to have read the comments written before. Then you would easily have seen that what you are accusing Sony for, is NOT correct at all.
The original announcement doesn’t mention “2 weeks” anywhere. The figure ’14′ is there, but it does not mean 14 days, but 14 November – the day of the announcement.
What they really have said about delivery time, is that it is to be announced later.
*****************************
doredore wrote 17 hours ago:
“Yes, I can confirm the translation was correct. But the article also added that the shipment schedule of new mirrored and mirrorless products is still TBA.”
Carl wrote 15 hours ago:
“Right now their new release date is still undecided.”
Ben wrote 15 hours ago:
” The “14 days” bit is actually the date of the announcement.
That is, “On November 14th, Sony announced that…” ”
.
GunnarK
7 months ago |Furthermore, quoting another line here:
jyun wrote 18 hours ago:
“Although they still have no dates on when they can release the cameras.”
Plenty of information about this, written 10 hours or more before you wrote your post.
Andrea is working really hard to filter out wrong and false information on SAR. We shouldn’t wreck this.
.
.
Ollder
7 months ago |Yippee!!
Bugger
7 months ago |Part of me is thinking…
Maybe I should just wait for NEX77 so that there’d be more lenses then.
Thatpilotguy
7 months ago |It seems that this “rumor” might be accurate. This is from DP Review
“Sony USA has confirmed reports that production of its SLT and NEX cameras has resumed, following the devastating flooding in Thailand, last month. Production has been moved from its affected Ayuthaya site to the Chonburi plant, further south in the country. A spokesman said there was no further information about the effect on product shipments, as this was still being determined. The company lowered its camera sales forecasts in its quarterly results published on November 2nd but said it had not yet factored-in the effects of the floods. However, its current assessment was that, taking into account the returns from its insurance policies, the cost of the flood damage would be around 25 billion yen ($324m).”
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2011/11/15/Sonyproductionresumes
I have been reading any and every report, I have a pre-order in with Sony Style and also at a local camera shop. I’m excited about this camera and with all the new reviews popping up it’s hard to not be too, too excited. Time will tell when it actually will be in the hands of the consumer…if not by CES, I’m going to get my hands on it there for sure!
Filmproduktion
7 months ago |I hope the NEX 7 will arrive in january in gemany. At the moment i have a lot of fun with my NEX 5N, but the 7 will be my favorite.