Sony to sell main North America TV plant to Taiwan company, to outsource manufacturing

Sony to sell TV plant in Mexico to Taiwan firm

TOKYO — Sony Corp. has agreed to sell its main television factory in North America to a Taiwanese company, the Japanese electronics maker said Tuesday, as it struggles to cut costs and stem massive losses.

Sony said it would sell 90 percent of its stake in Sony Baja California, which is located in Tijuana, Mexico, to Hon Hai Precision Industry. The company said in a news release that the move is not expected to affect its balance sheet, but is part of continuing efforts to cut costs by outsourcing manufacturing.

The company is not commenting on the price of the sale, spokeswoman Mami Imada said. The deal is expected to be finalized by March.

Sony makes most of the LCD TVs it sells in North America at the plant, and will continue to do so on an outsourcing basis after the sale, she said.

The plant’s 3,300 workers will not be affected by the sale.

The maker of Bravia flat-panel TVs and Cyber-shot digital cameras lost over a billion dollars last fiscal year, its first annual red ink in 14 years. It is forecasting an even worse 120 billion yen ($1.3 billion) loss for the fiscal year through March 2010.