What pulled Sony out of China? (Strategy).(cost effective manufacturing of digital cameras and camcorders)

Supply Chain Management Review, January, 2003 by Jiang, Bing

Conventional wisdom says you manufacture in China because that's where the lowest costs are. But conventional wisdom doesn't always take into consideration certain supply chain factors that may be even more important than manufacturing costs--like product cycle time, proximity to suppliers, and speed to market.

Sony did consider those other factors and came to only one conclusion: For production of its high-tech camcorders and digital cameras, moving from China and into Japan was the right thing to do. ********** Manufacturing costs aren't everything. Sometimes other supply chain considerations are more important. An excellent case in point is Sony Corp.'s decision in 2002 to move production of digital cameras and camcorders out of China. The...