Apple supplier Foxconn has reportedly offered around $5.3 billion (¥625 billion) to purchase troubled Japanese electronics maker Sharp, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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The report claims that Sharp is also reviewing a competing offer from the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), possibly in the range of $2.5 billion (¥300 billion). INCJ already owns a controlling stake in Japan Display, a joint venture formed in 2012 by the display making divisions of Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba.
Foxconn is reportedly willing to shoulder all of Sharp's debt in an effort to persuade the company's creditors. Sharp must repay around $4.3 billion (¥510 billion) it borrowed by March, urging the company and its lenders to reach a decision by February 4, when it reports its latest quarterly earnings results, according to the report.
Sharp, which experienced a net loss of nearly $1.9 billion (¥222 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2015, supplies Apple with LCD displays for current iPhones. The company is a leading television maker, and it also sells audio equipment, home appliances, interactive display systems for business use and more.
Foxconn could begin selling its own line of electronics if it purchased Sharp, but exactly how it plans to use the company if taken over remains unknown. Any possible implications for Apple may be short lived, as Japan Display, LG and Samsung are rumored to supply the company with OLED displays for iPhones as early as 2018.
In 2012, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou personally acquired a 38% stake in a Sharp display factory in Sakai, Japan.
Top Rated Comments
Ironic how once the Japanese were dominant in the electronics market. JVC, Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba are all disappearing.
Panasonic alone has twice as many employees as Apple and they make a profit so "disappear" might be a bit of an exaggeration.But yes, in many consumer product areas these Japanese companies have lost ground to others but I think it is mainly to Korean companies making similar products such as Samsung and LG.
Sony and Panasonic's Professional divisions are still doing fairly well. See that HD sports or news broadcast? Chances are that was shot on either Sony or Panasonic Pro gear with lenses from Canon.
This. (I work in TV with emphasis on live & studio broadcasts.)Ironic how once the Japanese were dominant in the electronics market. JVC, Panasonic, Sharp, and Toshiba are all disappearing. The mighty Sony survives only through the Playstation.
Sony and Panasonic's Professional divisions are still doing fairly well. See that HD sports or news broadcast? Chances are that was shot on either Sony or Panasonic Pro gear with lenses from Canon.I guess the computer and the smartphone killed their markets
But yes, it's interesting to see how companies (d)evolve over time.