Sharp Corporation and Toshiba Corporation announced today that the
two companies have agreed to collaborate closely in LCDs, a move that
is expected to enhance the companies´ corporate value, profitability
and global competitiveness. The alliance will allow each company to
make full and effective use of its respective strengths and resources,
particularly Sharp´s capabilities in LCDs and Toshiba´s expertise in
advanced semiconductors.
Sharp and Toshiba will initiate the collaborative partnership in
fiscal year 2008, starting with an expansion of reciprocal procurement
- Sharp´s procurement of system LSIs for LCDs from Toshiba, and
Toshiba´s procurement of Sharp´s LCD modules for TVs of 32 inches and
larger. Through the program, Sharp aims to satisfy about 50 percent of
its total demand for system LSIs for TVs in fiscal year 2010, while
Toshiba targets meeting 40 percent of its demand for LCD modules in
the same year.
The global market for LCD TVs is growing at a brisk pace, a trend
expected to continue in coming years. While various types of displays
are being brought to market, Sharp is channeling its resources into
developing LCD TVs characterized by thin lines, light weight, high
resolution images and a long lifetime, and into achieving progressive
advances in reducing power consumption.
System LSIs for TVs are increasingly required to support advanced
functions and higher levels of performance alongside their core role
of image processing. As TVs shift to higher levels of resolution,
Toshiba´s system LSIs for TVs deliver the company´s advanced expertise
and achievements in image processing in products that meet the most
exacting requirements of major TV set manufacturers.
By bringing together their key, world class technologies, Sharp
and Toshiba will promote business advances through development of
differentiated products. Each company aims to secure a leading
position in the LCD TV market, and to reinforce its capabilities in
LCDs and semiconductors, by overcoming increasingly intense global
competition.
About Sharp
Sharp Corporation is a worldwide developer of innovative products
and core technologies that play a key role in shaping the future of
electronics. As a leader in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and digital
technologies, Sharp offers one of the broadest and most advanced lines
of consumer electronics, information products and electronic
components, while also creating new network businesses.
Sharp Corporation employs about 57,600 people in the world (as of
October 31, 2007) and recorded consolidated annual sales of 3,127,771
million yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007. For more
information, please visit Sharp´s Web site at
http://sharp-world.com/index.html.
About Toshiba
Toshiba is a world leader and innovator in pioneering high
technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced
electronic and electrical products spanning information &
communications equipment and systems; digital consumer products;
electronic devices and components; power systems, including nuclear
energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home
appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global
network of more than 670 companies, with over 191,000 employees
worldwide and annual sales surpassing US$60 billion. Visit Toshiba´s
web site at http://www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.
