The chip shortage continues to hamper Sony’s ability to produce cameras. Today, the company has announced that it is no longer accepting orders for the Alpha 7C and a6600 and has “completed production” on the Alpha 7 II and a6100.
Sony published an apology note on its Japanese website and has noted four cameras are either temporarily suspended or will no longer be produced to an already relatively long list of previously discontinued or suspended products.
“Currently, with regard to digital imaging products, parts procurement is delayed due to the effects of global semiconductor shortages,” the company says. “Therefore, we will suspend the acceptance of orders from our distributors and customers at the Sony store as follows for specific models with tight supply.”
In early November, Sony stopped accepting orders for the Alpha 7 II and the a6100, but today has announced that since there is “no prospect of future parts supply,” it has decided to permanently end production of both cameras. It and the a6100 have been designated as “production completed.” It is still possible to find these cameras for sale through dealers, but the remaining stock is all that will remain of these cameras.
The a6600 and the Alpha 7C have been moved to the “suspended” phase, and Sony is no longer accepting orders for either camera. The two join the ZVE-10 that was similarly designated on December 3.
The Alpha 7C isn’t quite as recent of a release as the ZV-E10 was, but it is still relatively new. The camera was announced in September of 2020. The a6600 is about a year older and was announced in August of 2019.
Because Sony normally likes to continue manufacturing older series cameras for years after they have been “replaced” by newer models, the global chip and parts shortage appears to be hitting it harder than the likes of Canon or Nikon. While it’s true that all three are struggling to make enough products to fill store shelves, Sony has been forced to discontinue production on even relatively new cameras in an effort to prioritize other products in its line.
In just the last two months, Sony has been forced to suspend orders or cease all production of eight total camera products, while the availability of many camera products it does continue to manufacture are becoming more difficult to find.
