Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-25
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Japanese media on Thursday reported that the debt-plagued Japanese display maker Sharp Corp. has agreed to a takeover offer from Taiwanese company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, after a four-year wooing since 2012.
Struggling with chronic losses, the board of century-old Sharp has reportedly opted for Hon Hai to stay whole but under a foreign parent despite Innovation Network Corporation of Japan’s (INCJ) plan to restructure by spinning off businesses.
A successful deal would mean Hon Hai, the main assembler of Apple Inc.’s iPhone, is about to take over one of the largest suppliers of screens designed for high-end phones and tablets. The analysts indicated that Sharp owns key patents and techniques on displays. Among them, low temperature poly silicon (LTPS) LCD is the most valuable one for Hon Hai as its main client Apple Inc. purchases over 50 percent of global LTPS screens mainly produced by Japan’s Sharp, JDI, and Korea’s LG. [FULL STORY]