Sharp is set to buy Toshiba Corp’s personal computer (PC) business for $36 million, marking a return to a business it exited eight years ago, Reuters reported.
Sharp was once known as a major supplier of high-end TVs and smartphone displays but struggled to compete with Asian rivals and was bought by Taiwan’s Foxconn, or Hon Hai Precision Industry, two years ago. Sharp exited the PC market in 2010.
Osaka-based electronics maker will be able to use the scale of parent Foxconn, the world’s biggest contract manufacturer and major Apple supplier, to produce PCs more cheaply – just as it was able to do in TVs.
The partnership with Foxconn, the contract maker of PCs for global PC brands, is expected to help Sharp produce PCs at low cost and turn a profit on the deal.
Toshiba currently builds PCs at its own plant in China.
Sharp posted its first net profit in four years in the year ended March as Foxconn’s sales network in China helped boosted sales of its TVs. The company is seeking to get back the license of the Sharp brand for TVs in North America it previously sold to China’s Hisense Group.
Toshiba completed the $18 billion sale of its chips business to a group led by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital last week.
