Here’s a photograph by the The Bangkok Post showing Sony’s sensor manufacturing plant in Thailand submerged under flood waters roughly 3 meters (~10ft) high. The shutdown of the 502,000 square foot, 3,300 employee plant doesn’t just affect Sony, as other companies — including Nikon and Apple (in the iPhone 4S) — rely on Sony image sensors as well.

(via Bangkok Post via Nikon Rumors)

Image credit: Photograph by Pattarachai Preechapanich/The Bangkok Post

Japanese camera site digicame-info is reporting that an upcoming announcement of a D700 successor (possibly the D800) has been cancelled due to the ongoing flooding in Thailand, and that Nikon’s product supply has nearly come to a standstill — affecting existing products in addition to upcoming ones. Even if the D800 is being manufactured in Japan like the D700 is, some components may be produced in Nikon’s flood-damaged factory.

(via digicame-info via Foto Actualidad)

A week ago we shared a photo showing Nikon’s factory in Thailand submerged due to the catastrophic flooding happening there. The latest news is that both Nikon and Sony have had their camera factories severely damaged, which may have cause delays of at least 1-2 months. 90% of Nikon’s SLR cameras — the low to mid-range ones — are produced at the company’s Thailand plant, while 100% of Sony DSLRs are made at its now-damaged factory.

Nikon was expected to announce a new DSLR by the end of this year, but it seems like that may be postponed indefinitely at this point. Sony’s new NEX-7 and A65 cameras have been pulled from Amazon due to “manufacturing concerns”.

(via The Nation via 43 Rumors)

Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding it has seen in more than 50 years, and Nikon is also getting hit hard. A statement released by the company today (and photos emerging from the area) reveals that the company’s entry-level DSLR factory there is now swamped with water:

The 1st floor of all buildings at the premises are presently submerged. Details of the damages are now under investigation. [...] We are continuing to investigate details of the damage, but are unable to predict how soon operation will be resumed. We will set up our recovery support system and endeavor to restart its operation as early as possible.

This may lead to a shortage in supply and an increase in prices — the same thing we saw after the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year.

Notice on the damage from the flood in Thailand (via Nikon Rumors)

Image credit: Photograph by Noppatjak Attanon and used with permission