Production shifted to Cambodia

Japanese electronic device maker MinebeaMitsumi Inc would shift part of its video game console production operation to Cambodia from China, a company spokesman told NNA yesterday, with the outcome of the United States-China trade row remaining uncertain.

“MinebeaMitsumi will introduce upgrades to its existing plant for industrial components located in a special economic zone in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, planning to have assembly of video game consoles for export from 2020,’’ the spokesman said.

“Production of some components for the game console operation has started already,’’ he said, while declining to disclose the amount of investment or planned output capacity.

The spokesman declined to disclose the name of clients for game console production and further details.

“MinebeaMitsumi plans to beef up production in Cambodia overall, where the company currently makes products such as ball bearings and LED backlights under its local arm, Minebea (Cambodia) Co, and expand the number of workers to 20,000 from 7,000 in the next few years,’’ he said.

In similar moves, video game giant Nintendo Co, which made up 16.4% of MinebeaMitsumi’s sales in the fiscal year through March 2019, revealed in July its plan to shift part of its Switch console production from China to Vietnam.

It said the decision to move production of the popular video game console was made to avoid future uncertainty.

Tensions between the United States and China over their prolonged tariff battle have eased somewhat as the two nations recently agreed on an interim deal.

In the deal, Washington cancelled its planned punitive tariffs on video game consoles, among other products, shipped from China.