The world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn is allegedly aiming to acquire board seat at Sharp, a report out from Asia claims.
Foxconn in May acquired an eleven percent ownership stake in Sharp in exchange for $844 million. It also bought a 46.48 percent stake in Sharp’s sister company Sharp Display which makes display panels for iPad 3 and is thought to be readying big-ass IGZO panels for a rumored full-blown television set from Apple…
Ninelu Tu, reporting for DigiTimes from Taipei:
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), after receiving three board seats in Sharp Display Product (SDP) on July 17, is now reportedly aiming to acquire seats in SDP’s parent company, Japan-based panel maker Sharp with the two companies reportedly already in negotiations.
The three boards as a result of the Sharp acquisition are non-executive so no wonder Foxconn now wants more influence over decision making process in Sharp’s boardroom.
Foxconn CEO Terry Gou made public his intentions that with the Sharp deal his company is looking to beat Samsung Display on clearness.
Foxconn, currently gearing up for iPhone 5 manufacturing, is also looking to automate manufacturing with advanced robots and is planning another factory in Indonesia worth an estimated $1 billion.
It also operates plants in Brazil that should begin churning out iPads soon, though these plans could be now on hold due to disagreements with the local government over investment projects and technology imports into the country.
If you believe the rumor-mill, all of Foxconn’s recent moves indicate that the company is making huge investments into displays and manufacturing capabilities on behalf of Apple, as Cupertino is thought to be preparing to disrupt the television market with a connected set of its own (provided Hollywood jumps on board, of course).
What do you make of this?