According to reports in foreign media, Sony's spokesperson recently revealed that to reduce costs of unprofitable businesses, the company will soon close its smartphone plant in Beijing.

The spokesperson said that Sony will transfer the manufacturing to its plant in Thailand to cut its costs by half and make smartphone business realize profit starting from April 1, 2020.

Compared with other businesses, which have strong performance, Sony's smartphone is one of a few which lost money. The company predicted that its smartphone business might make losses of JPY95 billion, which is about USD863 million, in this financial year.

At present, Sony has five plants in China and the other four will not be affected by the change.

In addition, Sony recently announced to restructure several business units, including image products and solutions, home entertainment and sound, and mobile communications, into a new electronics products and solutions business unit. The restructuring is formally effective on April 1, 2019.