Sony has officially announced its purchase of a semiconductor fabrication facility in Oita City, Japan, from the Toshiba Corp., a deal that was first outlined in an Oct. 28 memo of understanding.

The sale marks what looks like the end of Toshiba's sensor business, which was reported in October by Reuters to be worth around $165 million. In the end, Sony took it off Toshiba's hands for about $155 million. The move will essentially oust Toshiba as Sony's competitor when it comes to smartphone and digital cameras, which the sensors are used for. 

As Sony announced in an official press statement released on Dec. 4:

"Under the agreements, Toshiba will transfer semiconductor fabrication facilities, equipment and related assets of Toshiba's 300mm wafer production line, mainly located at its Oita Operations facility. The purchase price of the Transfer is 19 billion yen."

The fabrication facility, which mainly produces CMOS image sensors and memory controllers, is expected to be under Sony's complete control by March 31 of next year.

Via: Sony Global

Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr