By (Agencies)
Updated: 2007-07-09 11:16

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co announced July 6 it will have moved all its handset camera module production lines to China by the end of the year.

The relocation is meant to reduce production costs as well as meet the rising demand for handset camera modules in the Chinese market.

This is according to a Korea.net report, which quoted a Samsung Electro official as saying that the relocation efforts have been under way from the start of 2007 and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Samsung Electro already produces 70 percent of its camera modules at its plant in Tianjin, China, while the rest are made at its local line in Busan, South Korea.

The Busan plant rolled out 22 million camera modules in 2005 and 17 million units last year. Once the relocation is complete, the China plant is expected to produce 50 million modules annually, the company said.