Sharp to tie up with major Chinese LCD panel maker

Struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. plans to set up a joint venture in China with major local liquid crystal display panel maker Nanjing China Electronics Panda Group Corp. to produce LCDs from 2015 at the earliest, Kyodo News reported Wednesday.

The Osaka-based company, which has been hit by slumping LCD television and panel sales amid stiff competition with rivals overseas, will invest tens of billions of yen in the venture and provide technology for its new power-saving, crisp-resolution Igzo LCD panels for tens of billions of yen, the report said, quoting sources familiar with the matter.

Under the envisioned tie-up plan, the two companies will first jointly make large-size LCD panels for televisions that do not require Igzo technology at a new plant which is under constructed in Nanjing by CEC Panda with capital of about 300 billion yen.

In the future, the two will produce small and midsize Igzo LCDs for smartphones and tablet computers, the sources said. Sharp will provide technological assistance in China, while securing the right to procure some panels, the report said.

Sharp has been cautious about providing the technology, but it apparently has decided to place priority on rebuilding its business rather than keeping its expertise exclusive, it added.