Last week, an earthquake hit what’s widely considered the image sensor capital of Japan – and now the world’s largest producer of camera sensors has released the first indication of how long production will be impacted.
In an update shared on July 31, Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation said that production is expected to reach pre-earthquake levels by mid-August. Safety inspections have already been completed, Sony says, with operations resuming in stages beginning on August 4.
Sony’s sensor manufacturing hub is located close to the epicenter of the July 28 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan’s Kumamoto region. Sony is the world’s largest producer of image sensors destined for a variety of imaging products from multiple manufacturers, including cameras, smartphones, and cars.
But, the Kumamoto region’s access to clean water makes it a key region for sensor manufacturing beyond just Sony. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. facilities and a Fujifilm location that develops the filters that make the brand’s X-Trans sensors so well known for color were also evacuated amid the natural disaster.
While Sony expects to resume full operations less than a month from the earthquake, the pause on manufacturing isn’t insignificant. In a 2017 tour of Sony’s Kumamoto factory, Sony indicated that as many as four million image sensors come from the factory in a single day.
But while the disruption isn’t insignificant, the expected recovery time is far less than the April 2016 earthquake that resulted in camera shortages that lasted into the fall. In 2016, an earthquake in the same region meant Sony’s sensor production didn’t get back up to pre-quake levels for more than three months.
Because Sony makes sensors destined for cameras for several brands and not just Sony’s, the 2016 earthquake resulted in some delays and shortages in finding new cameras. Those delays lasted into the fall from the April earthquake, but the shutdown lasted far longer than Sony’s estimate for the 2026 earthquake.
Sony says that everyone evacuated safely, with only minor injuries reported in the July 2026 earthquake.
While Sony's statement doesn't indicate how much camera shipments will be impacted, the estimated shutdown being a third of the 2016 quake is a good sign that availability won't be as severely impacted.
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