Sharp Corp might seek a strategic collaboration with Japan Display Inc (JDI) to build a sizeable alliance against South Korean display suppliers Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc, Sharp president Tai Jeng-wu (戴正吳) said yesterday.
“We can work together, but there is one condition: Sharp must lead the alliance,” Tai told a news conference in Taipei.
Tai said Sharp has not yet officially approached JDI regarding the proposal, due to concerns of possible antitrust violations.
Photo: Chen Jou-chen, Taipei Times
However, there are ways for Sharp to avoid breaking the law, he said.
“Otherwise, how could [South Korean chipmaker] SK Hynix [Inc] join the bid to acquire Toshiba’s memorychip business?” Tai asked.
Tai said he views Samsung and LG as experienced sumo wrestlers who weigh more than 200kg, whereas Sharp only weighs slightly more than 150kg.
“Sharp cannot spend hundreds of billions of yen to fight against Samsung or LG alone, as we will definitely lose the game,” he said.
Tai said that firms in Japan’s display supply chain — including material and equipment suppliers — should form a “big Japanese league” to increase their competitiveness.
When asked if Sharp is to follow in Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) footsteps and build plants in the US, Tai said Sharp is evaluating the feasibility of investing in the nation and hopes it could help expand the firm’s overseas revenue contribution from 68 percent to 80 percent.
“North America is such a big market. We will definitely go if the investment opportunity benefits Sharp,” he said.
However, the company does not plan to acquire Vizio Inc, the US’ second-largest television manufacturer, Tai said.
“I am promoting Sharp’s brand in the US, but we will not buy other brands,” he said.
Tai’s remarks came amid rumors that Sharp is interested in buying Vizio with help from Hon Hai, after Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp’s (LeEco, 樂視) US$2 billion acquisition of Vizio collapsed.
As part of efforts to boost Sharp’s overseas revenue, Tai on Aug. 1 took over as the firm’s head of global sales to closely oversee sales performance abroad and in Taiwan, he said.
Sharp aims to increase its market share in Taiwan to 40 percent as soon as possible, Tai said, without disclosing the current share or a time frame.
The company is to allocate more marketing resources in Taiwan, including inking an endorsement agreement with Taiwanese singer and actor Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) to promote Sharp TVs, Tai said.
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS