Qualcomm Agrees to Invest $120 Million in Sharp
Qualcomm’s move to invest up to $120.4 million in Sharp is the first in a series of funding transactions the CE company expects to engage in to bolster its sagging balance sheet, Sharp executives in Japan said. The deal also potentially gives Sharp a ready market for its IGZO display technology.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
In addition to the funding, the companies will jointly develop smartphone displays combining IGZO-based semiconductors with the MEMS technology Qualcomm acquired when it bought Pixtronix late last year, Sharp officials said. The partnership won’t include Qualcomm’s Mirasol bistable MEMS display technology, which it’s seeking to license after scrapping plans for building a manufacturing facility in Taiwan, Sharp officials said.
As part of the agreement, Sharp will issue $59.8 million in new shares to Qualcomm at $1.99 a share, giving the chipmaker a 2.6 percent stake in Sharp. Sharp’s struggles grew worse since a deal for Hon Hai to infuse it with $800 million collapsed as Sharp’s financial losses mounted. Hon Hai is continuing discussions with Sharp, a Hon Hai spokesman told us.
Sharp initially battled low yields of its IGZO-based displays, but has since introduced a Zeta brand smartphone in Japan through NTTDoCoMo that features a 4.9-inch LCD with 720 x 1,280 resolution and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Sharp is expected to ship a branded 32-inch IGZO-based LCD PC monitor in Japan in February priced at about $3,000, company officials have said. Sharp also is shipping an Aquos tablet through KDDI containing a seven-inch IGZO LCD with 1,280 x 800 resolution.
Pixtronix landed Samsung and Hitachi as customers for its MEMS-based displays before it was sold to Qualcomm late last year. The MEMS technology is designed to extend battery life by using less than 25 percent of the energy of an LCD.