Sony Corp. is looking to expand on its dominant position in making the chips used to capture smartphone pictures, as President Kazuo Hirai makes progress in his turnaround effort at the struggling consumer electronics maker.
The company is in talks with Toshiba Corp. to acquire its image sensor business for ¥20 billion ($165 million), said people familiar with the negotiations.
The Tokyo-based manufacturers are close to a deal that may be announced as early as this week, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Toshiba is seeking to raise cash after an accounting scandal that cut about $1.3 billion off profit reported over almost seven years.