Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 28 March 2012 [View all]FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Foxconn owner Hon Hai Group has given limping Sharp a crutch by buying a stake in the Japanese electronics maker and pouring a few billion yen into its LCD business.
Taiwanese Hon Hai will hand over ¥66.9bn ($806m, £507m) for a 9.9 per cent stake in Sharp - and will fork out another ¥66bn for a 46.5 per cent stake in the joint venture telly business Sharp has with Sony.
LCD shipments worldwide have slowed for everybody, but Sharp is also suffering, along with Sony and Panasonic, from a major kicking in the market by Korean electro-behemoth Samsung. Sharp forecasts a net loss of ¥290bn ($3.5bn, £2.19bn) for the year ending March 31.
"The market surrounding electronics industry is becoming severe, with rapid price decline due to the development of digital technology and increasing competition in a global market," Sharp said in a statement on the deal with Hon Hai. "We believe timely action is necessary to tackle these changes in the market."
Japanese trio Sharp, Sony and Panasonic are taking harder hits in the LCD sector because they have struggled to stay competitive as they battle against a strong yen.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/28/sharp_foxconn_lcd_deal/
Chinese-Japanese tie up to do battle with the Koreans. (Although a large chunk of LCD computer screen production is Taiwanese.)