In addition to the five production plants in the middle to southern part of Japan which will be affect by supply shortages of materials and components caused by the recent earthquake and aftershocks, the Kanazawa LCD TV production plant of Sony in Aichi prefecture will also be affected by shortages of components and materials and may reduce or suspend production from March 22-31.

Sony is considering transferring some production to its overseas plants, and Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is expected to be the largest beneficiary.

Although production at the Kanazawa plant is not significant, the plant mainly produces high-end larger-size models such as 3D TVs.

Sony indicated that the Kanazawa plant was not affected by the earthquake or tsunami, but production may reduce or be suspended in the following week due to shortages of components and materials. Sony will maintain supply using current inventory, but if supplies remain short, Sony will consider transferring production to overseas manufacturers.

TV component suppliers noted that Taiwan TV manufacturers did not receive transferred orders after the earthquake but instead saw vendors reduce order volumes. Market sources noted that Sony canceled about 40,000 units of LCD TV orders to Foxconn recently.

Sony is expected to ship 36 million units of LCD TVs in 2011, of which 70-80% are outsourced, with Foxconn manufacturing 15-18 million units, and 7-8 million units by Wistron and other manufacturers such as Compal and TPV Technology.