Nikon to close Chinese factory, shift some output to Thailand
Japanese camera and precision equipment maker Nikon Corp will discontinue operations at one of its Chinese manufacturing units, the company said in a statement posted on its website on Monday.
The unit to be closed – Nikon Imaging (China) Co – was established in June 2002 in Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu Province and used to produce compact digital cameras and components, the statement said. It said that the rise of smartphones had drastically diminished the market for small digital cameras and greatly reduced the operating time at the Wuxi facility.
The company is moving toward disbanding and liquidating the unit, said the statement.
The closure will affect about 2,300 workers and Nikon expects 7 billion yen ($62 million) in costs for the plant closure, according to Kyodo News International. Production will be transferred to other plants including a factory in Thailand.
The decision was reached after rounds of deliberations as part of a larger restructuring plan announced in November 2016, read the statement.
The company said it will increase investment in the highvalue added segment of its product offerings and maintained that the Chinese market remains one of its most important.
Nikon said its other subsidiaries in China will not be affected.