The Japanese firm produces screens for the iPad tablet and iPhone 5
Samsung will invest $ 110 million in Sharp, which will expand its supplier base, you get access to the technology of low-power thin screens and allow you to get a foot in the door of one of the key suppliers of the U.S. Asian Apple.
The agreement allows Samsung with a share of 3% in the Japanese pioneer in television, which became one of the major foreign shareholders of Sharp, along with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc, which agreed to invest up to 120 million December dollars.
Shares of Sharp, who was rescued by its banks in October last year, climbed due to news of financial support.
IMPLICATIONS
While Sharp is one of the smaller suppliers of Samsung, its importance to the South Korean company would grow with the expansion of demand for TVs larger than 60 inches, analysts say. Preferential prices could improve the competitive advantage of Samsung televisions.
The purchase could also annoy Apple pressing capacity of a plant that produces screens for the iPad and the iPhone 5. Analysts and industry researchers estimate that Sharp is the second largest provider of Apple after LG Display Co Ltd.
“Samsung’s investment will also prevent Apple has exclusive access to Sharp,” said Jeff Kang, an analyst at Daishin Securities in Seoul.
Samsung also may benefit from access to the display technology of the Japanese company.
Sharp, which was founded a century ago, manufactures high-resolution displays that are thinner, requiring less backlight and consume up to one tenth of the energy of conventional LCD, resulting in a longer duration of cell phone batteries and devices who use them.
