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By Bloomberg

Sony Corp. announced its second boost to capacity for chips used in camera sensors this year to meet demand for components it supplies for devices including Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

The company will spend 45 billion yen ($376 million) to expand its Nagasaki and Yamagata TEC facilities in Japan, it said Tuesday in a statement. In February, Sony said it plans to invest about 105 billion yen to raise output of the so-called CMOS sensors.

Image sensors, games and entertainment underpin Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai’s push to revive profit at a company projecting its sixth loss in seven years. Stressing profitability instead of volume growth and shifting away from TVs has helped Sony focus on its advantages, such as the sensors that help boost the quality of smartphone pictures.

The increased investment will be included in capital spending plans for the current financial year ending March 2016, Shinichi Tobe, a Tokyo-based spokesman, said today.

Sony has forecast sales of as much as 1.5 trillion yen in the year ending March 2018 for its business that makes sensors, camera modules and memory storage. The business is expected to have an operating margin of 10 percent to 12 percent.

Operating profit will reach 500 billion yen in the year ending March 2018, the company forecasts. That’s the highest since 520 billion yen in 1998, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, when income was fueled by MiniDisc players and the first “Men in Black” movie.