Sony is already going to lose big business from the Kumamoto earthquakes which struck the company’s image sensor plant. The most notable of the losses has been Apple, which was relying on Sony to deliver dual-lens cameras to power their iPhone 7+ this fall. Now, you can add Nikon to the list of clients being affected by Sony’s production woes.

According to the team at SonyAlphaRumors:

• Nikon DL compacts are delayed till October
• Limited production and supply of D750, D810
• Not expecting new shipments of all Sony ILCE until late July or August

As always take these rumors with a grain of salt but it doesn’t seem that far fetched. If Sony is unable to meet what Apple is requesting of them, it’s not that unlikely that other client orders will see delays as well. Not to say this is the case but if Sony had to prioritize one client, it would be Apple over the limited numbers of cameras Nikon would push out.

However the likely scenario is that everybody is seeing a similar type of delay as Sony works on repairing their damaged factory. While a bright spot for Sony just a year ago, the Devices segment, where image sensors are placed under, is now facing a rocky road and will likely post a loss for FY16. Devices at one point was seen as a key pillar of Sony and arguably going forward, more and more of our devices, from drones to cars will incorporate varying image sensors. Despite a less than stellar 12-15 months, I can’t help but think that Sony can’t lower the importance of the division and should instead double down to ensure a successful future.

Discuss:

Do you think this will have a long term negative impact on Sony?