Sony in talks with Toshiba to acquire its CMOS sensor business

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Sony officially announced the beginning of negotiations with Toshiba to acquire its CMOS image sensor business. Sony is aiming at Toshiba's fabrication facilities, equipment and even the 1,100 employees working on CMOS image sensor engineering and design at the company.

If the deal goes through, Sony will have Toshiba's plant in Oita, Japan. This acquisition would put Sony in a position to increase its CMOS image sensors production muscles. It's exactly this area where the company anticipates further market growth.

And the company's optimistic forecast isn't unfounded. Sony CMOS sensors are found in Apple, Google, Samsung, Motorola and a plethora of Chinese manufacturers' smartphones. In high-end digital cameras, Nikon also utilizes Sony sensors.

For now, financial information on the future deal isn't disclosed. Sony expects negotiations to come to an end by the end of the year.