Will Sharp bet China market success?

Shinhara Shinichi officially became chairman and general manager of Sharp (China) Investment Co., Ltd. in June this year. After taking office, Sharp began to reflect on and adjust his strategy for the Chinese market. In the face of consecutive losses, Sharp's ending may be very tragic, due to excessive investment in the early stage, will face or be acquired, or the bankruptcy of bankruptcy.

Looking for other outlets in the crisis From the TV field, Lenovo is a new force. Many Chinese and foreign brands, including TCL, Hisense, Skyworth, Konka, Samsung, and Sony, have already carved out the domestic TV market. Last year, Lenovo launched the 42-inch two K-series high-end smart TV products priced at 14999 yuan 55 inches and 6499 yuan, due to high prices, a single product line and other factors, sales in the past year is not good.

As a veteran home appliance company, Sharp's market share in the TV business has been declining year-on-year. At a loss, dragging down the entire group's business, it urgently needs funds to change the current predicament. Sharp's capacity and technology in the color TV market is the most critical factor for Lenovo's television. Industry sources said that Lenovo and Sharp cooperation, for both parties, can bring benefits, Lenovo can use Sharp to enhance the visibility of smart TV, through in-depth cooperation to learn Sharp's experience in the television field, Sharp can solve the problem of funding shortages.

Panel Core Technology Into China In June, Sharp and China Electronic Information Industry Group Co., Ltd. jointly invested US$2.9 billion to establish a joint venture company in China. Construction of the 8.5-generation line in Nanjing, according to the agreement, China Electronics has a 92% stake in the new joint venture, Sharp will focus on providing IGZO and other liquid crystal technology.

In May, Sharp's 2012 financial report released showed that the company’s sales were 2,475.8 billion yen and its net profit was -545.3 billion yen, which refreshed Sharp's record of the highest loss since its establishment in 100 years. Of which, LCD panel business suffered a loss of 138.9 billion yen.

According to the statistics of the United States NPD DisplaySearch, global flat panel TV manufacturers in the first quarter of 2013, Samsung, LG, TCL, and Sharp ranked first to fourth in terms of sales. The total market share of the four companies is close to 67%. Although Sharp ranked fourth, its market share decreased year-on-year, accounting for only 5.7%.

In order to cope with the continuous huge loss, Sharp has launched a series of measures, executive substitutions, technical cooperation, transfer of equity, large-scale layoffs hope out of the woods. As the top priority for the comeback, Sharp plans to re-establish its business or make a fuss on LCD screens. But before that, South Korean companies Samsung and LG have taken the lead in China. Samsung's project in Suzhou and LG's project in Guangzhou will gradually enter the production phase this year and next. At this point, Sharp chose to cooperate with the Chinese panda and it is still unclear whether it will be able to find a way out in the LCD panel market where price competition will be fiercer.

It is worth noting that the rise and fall of Sharp are worth pondering. For a long time, Japanese home appliance companies have been known for their hardware technology and equipment innovations, but today's industry trends have evolved into competition for software, systems, and solutions. Commodity development capability has become a new short-board for Japanese home appliance companies. It lacks imagination and innovation. It focuses on the refinement of single products while ignoring consumer demand. It has not been able to break through the imprisonment of traditional home appliances, and personalization and diversification cannot be reflected. In recent years, Sharp has also realized the seriousness of the problem and started to implement diversified operations, diluting the label of “appliances.” It is only because the label has faded to be unrecognizable, which has aroused greater concern. It will take time to prove whether Sharp's new salvation can succeed.