Industry News: Sony halts production of the ZV-E10

11 comments

1. Halting production of a camera is not a unusual scene; however, it is unusual when the camera is Sony's best-selling one among Japanese offline resellers for quite a while. I guess the APS-C cameras don't really make enough profit for the Big 3 anymore when the chip availability is tight and price is hiking... and they'd rather put those available chips in higher end models.

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2. Halting production of a camera is not a unusual scene; however, it is unusual when the camera is Sony's best-selling one among Japanese offline resellers for quite a while. I guess the APS-C cameras don't really make enough profit for the Big 3 anymore when the chip availability is tight and price is hiking... and they'd rather put those available chips in higher end models.

   Same chip used in all/most models? Why would that seem odd to me?

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3. Same chip used in all/most models? Why would that seem odd to me?

   
   That would be odd.
   
   I suspect what is meant was to allow their suppliers to concentrate on the chips used in higher end models.
   
   Of course, Sony likely makes many of its own chips; if I recall correctly, they make their own sensors (as well as many other companies' sensors).
   
   Edit: Thinking about it a bit more I realize there probably are some chips in common between models, but not everything. I'm sure Sony's equivalent to DIGIC is not common among all models, for instance.

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4. Halting production of a camera is not a unusual scene; however, it is unusual when the camera is Sony's best-selling one among Japanese offline resellers for quite a while. I guess the APS-C cameras don't really make enough profit for the Big 3 anymore when the chip availability is tight and price is hiking... and they'd rather put those available chips in higher end models.

   Sony halted more expensive cameras as well.

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5. That would be odd.
   
   I suspect what is meant was to allow their suppliers to concentrate on the chips used in higher end models.
   
   Of course, Sony likely makes many of its own chips; if I recall correctly, they make their own sensors (as well as many other companies' sensors).
   
   Edit: Thinking about it a bit more I realize there probably are some chips in common between models, but not everything. I'm sure Sony's equivalent to DIGIC is not common among all models, for instance.

   Yes I was thinking things like Bionz X, RAMs, EVFs, etc. So far there are only 3 camera using Bionz XR and one (a7S III) is already affected, one (a7 IV) is not yet for sale in NA.
   AFAIK a6400, 6100 and ZV E-10 do use the same CMOS. I guess Sony's previous effort (stopping a6400 and a6100 production) simply didn't free up enough wafers for a7 IV preorders so they made a tough decision. I heard distributors in some area told customers they need half a year to fulfil all a7 IV preorders.

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6. Sony halted more expensive cameras as well.

   So far we only know A7 II and A6400 fall into the "higher end" category, but they are not much more expensive. a7S III is slow and delayed but not halted.

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7. That would be odd.
   
   I suspect what is meant was to allow their suppliers to concentrate on the chips used in higher end models.
   
   Of course, Sony likely makes many of its own chips; if I recall correctly, they make their own sensors (as well as many other companies' sensors).
   
   Edit: Thinking about it a bit more I realize there probably are some chips in common between models, but not everything. I'm sure Sony's equivalent to DIGIC is not common among all models, for instance.

   Sony does not manufacture it's camera LCDs nor LCD driver chips. Without the LCD the cameras don't get final assembly. The LCD voltages and EVF voltages are regulated by a regulator chip also. And Sony does not manufacture those either.

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8. Yes I was thinking things like Bionz X, RAMs, EVFs, etc. So far there are only 3 camera using Bionz XR and one (a7S III) is already affected, one (a7 IV) is not yet for sale in NA.
   AFAIK a6400, 6100 and ZV E-10 do use the same CMOS. I guess Sony's previous effort (stopping a6400 and a6100 production) simply didn't free up enough wafers for a7 IV preorders so they made a tough decision. I heard distributors in some area told customers they need half a year to fulfil all a7 IV preorders.

   All of those items are useless without display driver chips and voltage regulator chips.

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9. All of those items are useless without display driver chips and voltage regulator chips. The EVF voltages depend on the LCD voltages.

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10. To be expected. Sony has to take a number like everyone else and get in line. Cameras just are not a priority over automobiles and other consumer products.

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11. So far we only know A7 II and A6400 fall into the "higher end" category, but they are not much more expensive. a7S III is slow and delayed but not halted.

    The A9 was halted as well

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