Sony Corp. plans to help domestic firms manufacture ventilators amid rising concerns over a supply shortage as the number of new coronavirus patients increases in Japan, company sources said Wednesday.
Sony plans to use its medical equipment plant in Shizuoka Prefecture and digital camera factory in Aichi Prefecture to make parts and help with the assembly of the ventilators, with the aim of producing 1,000 to 2,000 units within three months, the sources said.
The government has been calling on domestic manufacturers to boost the production of ventilators. It said Monday it will shorten the approval process of medical equipment manufacturing to a few days from several months to spur the entry of companies from other sectors.
Sony will first cooperate with Tokyo-based medical equipment maker Acoma Medical Industry Co. in making the ventilators before working with other companies, the sources said.
In the United States, General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. have also been helping the development and production of ventilators used to treat patients of the pneumonia-causing disease.