Telecommunications is one of the key areas marked out by Sony Corp for expansion in Europe ahead of the 1992 Single Market, and according to the Financial Times, mobile communications will be the top priority in the company’s quest to be doing $500m business a year in telecommunications in 1995. To that end, Sony is actively seeking to join one of the consortia gathering to bid for one of the two or three Personal Communications Network operators’ licences in the UK. The company will also form telecommunications research and development establishments in the UK and West Germany this year, and may design chips in Europe. It is also planning a full semiconductor fabrication plant in Europe, investing at least $150m and most likely choosing a greenfield site. It wants to be producing chips in Europe by 1992.
