Sharp seeks to form an alliance in the Oled in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sharp (T:6753) will seek the assistance of the japanese government to form an alliance with Japan Display in the technology of Oled screens to better compete with manufacturers in south korea, said on Thursday its director-general.

“We should create an alliance to japan” on the screens organic light emitting diode (Oled), has told the press Tai Jeng-wu at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) following the reinstatement of the action Sharp in the first section of the Tokyo stock Exchange after a year of absence.

The Oled screens, thinner, more flexible, more colorful and contrasting, start to take on LCD screens. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has equipped the iPhone X of a such technology.

Sharp and Japan Display, the two suppliers of Apple LCD screens, is expected to launch the production of slabs Oled next year or the next. The south Korean Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) on the other hand is already providing Oled screens for the smartphone manufacturers, while LG Display the offers to the manufacturers of tvs.

“Do we want to or not, technology (Oled) in Japan? I would like to discuss the matter with the ministry of Industry and the INCJ (Innovation Network Corp of Japan),” he said.

The public fund japanese INCJ holds 36% of Japan Display, born of the merger of the subsidiary screens deficits, Sony (T:6758), Hitachi and Toshiba (T:6502).

Tai Jeng-wu will also make contact with the government for a possible investment in JOLED, a subsidiary of Japan Display, which has sold its first batch of Oled screens to Sony on Tuesday.

JOLED, which claims a process for manufacturing low-cost Oled displays, is seeking to raise 100 billion yen ($753 million euros) to the professionals of the sector in order to increase its production capacity.

Japan Display and INCJ have refrained from any comment and JOLED did not want to speak to in the immediate future.

Tai Jeng-wu, a former vice-president of Hon Hai Precision Industry (also known as the Foxconn (TW:2354)), was taken last year at the helm of Sharp, affected by the price war and the decrease in sales of LCD screens, following the acquisition of the japanese group by the giant taiwanese electronics.

Tai Jeng-wu had promised to withdraw as soon as Sharp would have generated a net profit, and that the action of the group would be back in the first section of the TSE.

Sharp expects a net profit of 69 billion yen for the fiscal year ended march 31 of next year, which would be its first annual profit in four years after the reduction of the costs made by Foxconn.

The action is Sharp, withdrawn in August 2016 in the first section of the TSE due to an active net-negative, is returned in the category queen of the Tokyo stock Exchange on Thursday. The title ended down 2.06% at 3805 yen, underperforming the Nikkei up 1.45%.

Asked about his future, Tai Jeng-wu said he hopes that the board of directors of Sharp will choose the next year’s co-chief executive officer, to whom he could transfer some of its responsibilities.

(Makiko Yamazaki; Claude Chendjou for the French service, edited by Wilfrid Exbrayat)