Apple partner Foxconn's $3.8B Sharp buyout approved by China

After months of speculation and delays, the Chinese anti-monopoly agency has approved the $3.8 billion merger between Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn and display technology company Sharp.

Sharp currently supplies LCD LTPS displays spanning Apple's hardware on both the iOS and Mac side. The buyout deal will place both screen manufacture and assembly of Apple's products under the aegis of one company. Apple assisted in financing Sharp's Kameyama LCD assembly plant to the tune of 100 billion yen in 2014, and it is unclear what effect that will have, if any, on the ownership of the combined entity.

The deal was initially said to be for $6.25 billion. However, Sharp's financial condition precluded that deal, with "undisclosed liabilities" holding up financing options at the time.

Foxconn head Terry Gou said in June that in conjunction with the Sharp buy, that the company would be able to crank out OLED screens in quantities in 2017. Foxconn is said to be spending 200 billion yen to help develop its own source of the technology enabled by the Sharp purchase.

OLED screens are currently used in the Apple Watch. A refresh of the MacBook Pro line is said to have an OLED touch-sensitive strip in place of conventional function keys. The 2017 iPhone revision is suspected to migrate to OLED displays, as well as have a all-glass casing fabricated by Foxconn, potentially putting both components of the device in Foxconn's hands.

5 Comments

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 8 years ago

That's weird. What difference does China's opinion on this business matter make? They're a Taiwanese company after all, and their headquarters is in New Taipei City, Taiwan... and Sharp is, of course, a Japanese concern.

Either way, maybe Gene Munster will resume with the "Apple Television" rumormongering.

Herbivore2 367 comments · 8 Years

If Sharp has advanced OLED technology, why didn't they produce the panels themselves for Apple? Why would it take a Foxconn buyout to produce panels based on the technology?

Something's fishy about the whole thing. If Sharp needed additional capital, the Japanese government would certainly provide the funds especially to provide components for the iPhone.

Sharp very likely hasn't perfected anything. Or if they have, it's too expensive to compete against the likes of Samsung and LG.

Both of the Korean chaebols have very substantial leads with respect to the technology and working products in existence. Sharp wasn't expected to come out with anything until 2018 and it is unlikely that Foxconn will do any better. Especially against the likes of LG and Samsung who can price their products better than Foxconn with far better manufacturing capacity. Perhaps the panels can go into Oppo products leading to even greater financial losses for that company.

This makes no sense. Foxconn's planned 1.8 billion investment pales to what Samsung is investing.

I know the following site is also a rumors site, but if true, Samsung's investment into OLED will be far more substantial than what Foxconn is planning.

Foxconn better be prepared to spend far more than what they are planning. Even then, the chances of successfully competing with Samsung and LG are pretty low. Unlike TSMC which was on par with Samsung with respect to chip fabrication technology, Foxconn is pretty far behind.

Forgot to give the link regarding Samsung's planned OLED investment to produce OLED panels for Apple. Here it is:

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/14/apple-samsung-oled-panels-2017/

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

SpamSandwich said:

That's weird. What difference does China's opinion on this business matter make? They're a Taiwanese company after all, and their headquarters is in New Taipei City, Taiwan... and Sharp is, of course, a Japanese concern.

Either way, maybe Gene Munster will resume with the "Apple Television" rumormongering.

All antitrust law applies to the jurisdiction in which business is done, not the nationality of the business. For example, US DoJ has authority over a merger of any two companies anywhere in the world if they sell a certain amount in the US (I am forgetting the dollar threshold). You may recall that, some years ago, the EU antitrust authorities were able to stop a merger between GE and Honeywell (two US companies).

flaneur 4525 comments · 14 Years

Herbivore2 said:

If Sharp has advanced OLED technology, why didn't they produce the panels themselves for Apple? Why would it take a Foxconn buyout to produce panels based on the technology?

Something's fishy about the whole thing. If Sharp needed additional capital, the Japanese government would certainly provide the funds especially to provide components for the iPhone.

Sharp very likely hasn't perfected anything. Or if they have, it's too expensive to compete against the likes of Samsung and LG.

Both of the Korean chaebols have very substantial leads with respect to the technology and working products in existence. Sharp wasn't expected to come out with anything until 2018 and it is unlikely that Foxconn will do any better. Especially against the likes of LG and Samsung who can price their products better than Foxconn with far better manufacturing capacity. Perhaps the panels can go into Oppo products leading to even greater financial losses for that company.

This makes no sense. Foxconn's planned 1.8 billion investment pales to what Samsung is investing.

I know the following site is also a rumors site, but if true, Samsung's investment into OLED will be far more substantial than what Foxconn is planning.

Foxconn better be prepared to spend far more than what they are planning. Even then, the chances of successfully competing with Samsung and LG are pretty low. Unlike TSMC which was on par with Samsung with respect to chip fabrication technology, Foxconn is pretty far behind.

Don't forget that Apple, Foxconn and Samsung have all invested billions in Sharp over the past several years, presumably to keep their IGZO technology advancing. The Japanese government seems no longer to be the first resort in propping up the display companies.

Second, I would start with the assumption that Terry Gou knows what he's doing, and he's kept up to date on the competitive environment by his colleagues in the league in which he's a major player, along with Apple and Samsung.