Sony selling chip facility to Toshiba?

Sony is in negotiations to sell its microchip production facilities to Toshiba, and an agreement is likely within a few months.

According to a Reuter's article, the sale is part of Sony's strategy to shed costly semiconductor assets and focus on the production of products such as image sensor chips used in digital cameras and camcorders.

The sale, worth approximately USD 869.7 million, includes production lines for the Cell microchip used in the PlayStation 3.

Neither Sony nor Toshiba responded to the report in the business daily Nikkei, but earlier this year Sony had said that it planned to cut back on future chip spending and may not produce next-generation microchips in-house.

Sources reported that Sony is considering setting up a join venture with Toshiba after the sale, to secure a stable supply of chips for its game machines.