Sharp, Toshiba form LCD alliance
Through the agreement, Sharp aims to satisfy about 50% of its total demand for system LSIs for TVs in fiscal year 2010, while Toshiba targets meeting 40% of its demand for LCD modules in the same year.
By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- EDN, December 21, 2007
Sharp Corp. and Toshiba Corp. today announced that the two companies have agreed to collaborate closely in LCDs, extending a reciprocal procurement agreement that will see Sharp obtain system LSIs for LCDs from Toshiba and Toshiba obtain Sharp LCD modules for TVs of 32 inches and larger.
Sharp and Toshiba will initiate the collaborative partnership in fiscal year 2008. Through the agreement, Sharp aims to satisfy about 50% of its total demand for system LSIs for TVs in fiscal year 2010, while Toshiba targets meeting 40% of its demand for LCD modules in the same year.
Each company continues to compete for the leading position in the LCD TV market, making the partnership the latest evidence of competitors teaming to overcome increasingly intense global competition. This is a strategy IBM Corp., for one, has been leaning heavily on in recent years. The company has formed a partner ecosystem that includes many of its competitors to work on semiconductor development and advanced process technologies.
Recent market research from DisplaySearch shows that within that flat panel realm, LCD has continued to beat out plasma for consumers' TV purchases. The firm has reported that the LCD-TV market had a stellar Q3 in terms of sell-in: Preliminary totals for LCD TVs rose 34 percent from Q2 and 82 percent year-over-year to hit a new record high of 6.6 million units.
