Sony Pulls Plug On Color TV Exports

Sony Corp., which built itself into a consumer electronics powerhouse by selling television sets to the world, said Thursday it plans to phase out TV exports from Japan. But it will be making more sets overseas.

Color TV sets had been Sony’s main consumer export product in the past, with 1.5 million sets exported in 1985, its peak year.

Sony currently exports about 300,000 color TV sets per year, mainly to North America and the Middle East.

Sony has been moving TV production overseas, company officials say, because of the yen’s appreciation against foreign currencies, which boosts manufacturing costs in Japan. It also has adopted a policy of producing in regions where its goods are sold, Sony says.

Sony said it will continue to export limited numbers of large-screen sets from Japan for some time.