Sharp to Halt Operations at LCD TV Plant in Sakai, Osaka Pref.; Production of LCD TV Displays in Japan to Fall to Zero

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:07 JST, May 14, 2024

Sharp Corp. announced Tuesday it will halt operations at a plant for liquid crystal display televisions in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, according to sources. The firm aims to boost profits by downsizing its sluggish liquid crystal display (LCD) business.

The plant is run by its subsidiary, Sakai Display Products Corp. (SDP). There will be no production of LCD TV displays in Japan once operations are halted at the plant.

The specific timing of when the plant will shut down will be decided after coordinating with suppliers. Sharp is expected to consider selling SDP to domestic or foreign companies.

Sharp reported a ¥260.8 billion loss for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, due to poor performance of its LCD business. The company planned to recover to post a final profit of ¥10 billion for the year ending March 31, 2024, but suffered from a slump in not only LCDs for TVs but also small and midsize LCD panels for smartphones and computers.

Sharp announced a loss of ¥149.9 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31.

In 2009, Sharp expanded its business with LCD TV operations and invested ¥430 billion to launch SDP to achieve further growth. As competition intensified with Chinese and South Korean companies, however, Sharp suffered a decline in profitability.

Sharp gradually sold its stake in SDP in preparation for its sale, as the subsidiary had become burdensome, but changed its policy and turned SDP into a wholly-owned firm in 2022, in line with the intention of its parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.