Yesterday’s news that Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn bought an eleven percent stake in the Japanese multinational corporation Sharp sent the tongues wagging. With a 46.5 percent stake in Sharp’s LCD plant in Sakai, Osaka, conventional wisdom has it that Foxonn, which just released its 2011 financial report, will bolster Sharp’s LCD business and make it more profitable by securing the lowest prices on components.
Other folks think the two partners joined forces to battle LG Display and Samsung for orders of Retina displays for the new iPad. After all, Sharp is already been credited with small-volume shipments of 2,048-by-1,536 pixel resolution panels for the device and they’re about to ramp up production in the second quarter.
Another intriguing possibility includes next-generation flat panels for a rumored Apple-branded television set, nicknamed the iTV…
The 99-year old Sharp is losing big money with its LCD business, just as other HDTV makers aren’t doing particularly well either. That said, it make sense to partner with Foxconn and boost biz metrics. Sharp’s been rumored with attempting to sell Apple on its Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) display technology for the new iPad, but Apple passed on the technology to opt for traditional LCD screens.
The 99-year old Sharp is losing big money with its LCD business, just as other HDTV makers aren’t doing particularly well either. That said, it make sense to partner with Foxconn and boost biz metrics. Sharp’s been rumored with attempting to sell Apple on its Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) display technology for the new iPad, but Apple passed on the technology to opt for traditional LCD screens.
Sony, which also owns a seven percent stake in Sharp’s Sakai plant, confirmed today with a press release it will make no further investment in Sharp Display Products Corporation (SDP), a joint venture to produce and sell large-sized LCD panels and modules. The Abeno-ku, Osaka-headquartered Sharp transferred its Sakai LCD plant to SDP in 2009. Later that year ,Sony acquired a 7.04 percent stake in the joint venture.
The amended agreement gives Sony the right to sell its share in SDP should Sharp partner with a third-party, as they’ve just done now with Foxconn. The PlayStation maker will decide what to do with its stake in the joint venture in September.
Sony’s likely exit indicates plans for high-volume production of IGZO flat panels for the iTV. Right this moment, Sharp’s 8G lines can produce LCD panels up to 55 inches, but IGZO panels are not ready for mass production on Apple’s scale, according to SlashGear.
IGZO technology could also allow for a thinner iPad with greater battery life because Sharp’s IGZO panels can hit a pixel density of 330ppi and do not require dual LED bars to illuminate the pixels. The new iPad has twice the LEDs for backlighting which contributes the most to a faster battery drain, among other reasons.
In addition, IGZO technology allows for wide viewing angles, negating the need for a premium (and pricey) display technology called In-Plane Switching. And with near-OLED power consumption, significant manufacturing cost savings and only 25 percent thicker than the increasingly popular OLEDs – no wonder Apple set its sights on IGZO tech.
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