During the latest All Things D Asia event, Sony’s executive deputy president, Kaz Kirai, sat down with Walt Mossberg to discuss all things Sony. During the interview, the two touched on all of the different business categories that Sony competes in, including the mobile space with smartphones. The conversation naturally lead to reports of Sony producing the camera sensor, found in the latest from Apple, the iPhone 4S.

 Walt: Why did you sell your camera sensors to Apple?

Hirai: Can you really define who your competitors are, these days?

We sell to Apple. We buy from Samsung. We sell to Samsung. 

Though a simple logic, this simple thought process tends to allude many, including Sony’s own CEO who when asked about this very question, responded with:

  It “always puzzles me,” he said. “Why would I make Apple the best camera?” 

What Kaz is getting at is the same thought process that we’ve been championing out for months. For a company like Sony who is behind in so many markets and is low on cash flow, they need to strike every component deal that they can. Especially, if it’s with a company like Apple who famously does high volumes (the iPhone 4S sold over 4 million units in 3 days). This ensures a proper cash flow to Sony who can in turn, take the money and reinvest it into their own product lines. Samsung, who is now competing with Sony in the camera and television industry while also battling Apple in the smartphone and tablet industry, is able to perform this because you find Samsung components in almost every device. Even Apple, who is currently in vigorous lawsuit battles with Samsung, still buys their flash memory from Samsung and has the company produce their A4 and A5 chipsets that power the iPhone 4, 4S and iPad 2.

So why give Apple the best camera? So you can make a ton of money and in return, properly fight them back. If Sony’s next smartphone and the iPhone were the only game in town, then yes, maybe giving Apple a key component might not be the wisest choice. However, a phone’s camera is hardly the reason why someones chooses an iPhone over a Sony Ericsson Xperia and it seems like Kaz Hirai gets this.

Discuss:

In the end, it’s easy for us to see why Sony should continue to produce the iPhone 4S camera sensor into the future, including future iPhone models. Do you agree? Let us know in the comments section.

[Via All Things D]