Sharp in talks with Chinese firm to produce LCDs

Sunday 22nd February, 04:15 AM JST

OSAKA —

Sharp Corp is in talks with a major Chinese electronics maker SVA (Group) Co to jointly produce in China liquid crystal display panels used for TV sets, paving the way for its first offshore production of the products, sources familiar with the negotiation said Saturday. The Japanese electronic maker has been producing LCD panels in Japan and exporting them overseas. But as the recent appreciation of the yen has eroded its profits, Sharp wants to shift production overseas to boost its competitiveness, the sources said.

Sharp is also considering an alternate plan to sell the production equipment at its Kameyama factory in Mie Prefecture to SVA so that the Chinese company can manufacture the TV panels, the sources said. The No. 1 plant at the Kameyama factory has suspended production of the so-called sixth generation panels, while the No. 2 plant manufactures eighth-generation panels. Sharp has been trying to remodel the No. 1 plant to build small and midsized panels. If the deal with SVA is reached, Sharp will suspend the remodeling process and transfer its equipment to China, the sources said, while noting that other Chinese companies could emerge as a potential partner.

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10 Comments

nanotechnology at 10:48 AM JST - 22nd February

If the LCD TV that is to be made in China is for Asia and other 3rd-world countries, it is OK to pursue this plan. Sharp will survive in the world's LCD TV business because it can now compete with the cheaper models made by Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean manufacturers. But if it is for Japan market, it is not good. Majority of the consumers in Japan shares my feeling in choosing what to buy; that is; meticulous about the quality even for litlle things and small functionality.

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I will not buy Sharp again if it is not made in Japan. I purchased 37-inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV because it was built in Kameyama factory here in Japan and according to what I heard, most of the internal parts are made in Japan. Same thing with my digital SLR camera including the set of lens, when I bought it 2 years ago, anything that is not made in Japan is already out of my selection.
OssanAmerica at 01:25 PM JST - 22nd February

Bad idea. Sharp will save money and be competitive in the short run, but it will cost them in the long run. I believe most Americans would buy Japanese and South Korean TV sets but shy away from Chinese ones.
aj2o1 at 02:25 PM JST - 22nd February

Not so long ago, products 'made in Japan' and 'made in Korea' were considered shoddy. It took time and growing pains to improve quality and image.
highhope at 04:16 PM JST - 22nd February

It is a good idea. Sharp should move forward quickly to produce 11th generation panel. Forget about those old technology that is cost ineffective. An automated production of the 11th generation LCD panel is much more cost effective and futuristic. Samsung of Soth Korea is ready for 11th generation LCD production. I believe Sharp is capable to produce 10th generations.
rajakumar at 07:33 PM JST - 22nd February

Sharp-SVA china to make more future tech LCDs, most nikkei225 companies products from china selling well globally.

No loss here and in all nikkei-225 JV plants in china.
PepinGalarga at 01:56 AM JST - 23rd February

as long as you have a solid QC program theres no problem in manufacturing in China. the real danger lies in opening the hood and letting all this technology and intellectual property out in the wild. dont be surprised if you see other LCD makers in China copy the technology from SVA.
rajakumar at 12:11 AM JST - 24th February

PepinGalarga-Technology and intellect property copying, I don't think this can be controlled much outside developed nations.

Developing nations want to get developed fast so they copy. Just like here we have ideas,from 1000s of JT readers, any one can copy others. There is no danger in opening new ideas/new thinking/new ways in JT.

Japan needs to just let go these copy cats of oldtech and move ahead to new tech.

I believe this is trend today,with china exporting old tech TVs and japan exporting high tech TVs.

There is danger in any export of tech,there is copy cats of MIG jets/Russian missiles/Japan TVs/Asian movies/Hollywood movies/whatever.

Copy each other and make things better, is the way to go.

We need not fear copy cats of tech.

Intellectual property rights should taken to courts,to settle claims,whatever it is. Global trade should be without any kind of fear in global village and with more empowerment of all parties to make better world.
bdiego at 10:17 AM JST - 24th February

Good luck with quality control!
PepinGalarga at 04:41 AM JST - 26th February

its easy to copy words, brand and Louis Vuitton bags, but its practically impossible to copy microelectronic components, pharmaceutical active ingredients, nanotechnology materials, etc. if you dont have the original formulas or designs. Usually these are entrusted to the factories making the items. Therefore once this sensitive data enters China, then you can rest assured that it will go to the highest bidder.
cwhite at 04:52 PM JST - 28th February

already switched from Aquos to Regza simply because NAS HDD storage is the way to go. Why on earth would you save stuff on Blu-Ray. This will all be SSD in a few years, but as of today you can have:

8TBx8=64TB for NAS simultaneously (you could always switch between more) 8TBx8=64TB for USB 8TBx8=64TB for iLink 300MBx8=2.4TB for Local HDD

Totalling nearly 200TB of Highdef recordings, more than enough to record 20,000 hours. Stick a DLNA Server in the network and you can share throughout the house. Use a VPN connection and connect to the world.