Samsung Takes 3% Stake in Sharp, Key Supplier of iPhone and iPad ScreensSamsung has paid $112 million for a 3% stake in LCD screen manufacturer Sharp, a key supplier of LCD screens to both Samsung and Apple, reports The Wall Street Journal. Sharp currently holds the technical lead in the manufacture of large-screen LCD panels, enabling it to produce TV screens bigger than 60 inches at a lower cost than other manufacturers. Despite this advantage, the company has been struggling financially over the last 18 months, laying off 11,000 staff and mortgaging key assets. Sharp has been desperately seeking external financing to keep itself afloat, having received bank bailouts and receiving a $120 million investment from Qualcomm late last year. Foxconn was also set to make an investment in Sharp, but that deal has fallen apart as Sharp's financial picture has continued to deteriorate. Sharp supplies LCD panels to both Apple and Samsung, including both iPhone and iPad screens, and a WSJ blog suggests that Samsung may gain priority in future supply deals.Monex market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama said a Samsung-Sharp tie-up could "help Sharp to at least raise the efficiency of its panel-producing plant, as it will ship products to Samsung, whereas it had prioritized supplying components for Apple." Samsung’s bid to turn Sharp, once a major competitor, into an ally, shows how serious it is in winning a global battle with Apple for dominance in the lucrative market for mobile devices.Samsung has been focusing its own screen manufacturing efforts on OLED technology, with analysts observing that closer ties with Sharp would help the company outsource more of its LCD production. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Apple Seeds Build 12D76 of OS X Beta 10.8.3 to Developers • 'Temple Run: Oz' Movie Tie-In Goes Live on App Store • Thieves Use Bear Spray in Robbery of Vancouver's Oakridge Centre Apple Store • Apple Updates iBooks with Paid Japanese Books, Greater Asian Language Support • 'The Final Hours of Tomb Raider' iPad App Offers Behind-the-Scenes Look at New Game • Sapphire Previews Radeon HD 7950 Mac Edition Graphics Card for Mac Pro • Walt Disney World Emulates Apple's Use of iPod Touches for Friendlier Welcome • Former Apple Ad Man Says Apple Considered Calling the iPhone the 'TriPod', 'TelePod', 'Mobi', or 'iPad'
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/06/samsung-takes-3-stake-in-sharp-key-supplier-of-iphone-and-ipad-screens/
