14 DAY TRIAL // A strategic partnership between Sharp and Foxconn may yield large television panels for use in an upcoming Apple TV product, industry sources in Taiwan speculate.
Sharp has reportedly announced a “strategic alliance” with Foxconn which, through third-party allotment, will hand over a 10% stake to four Foxconn subsidiaries, thus making Foxconn the largest shareholder of Sharp.
Quoted by the generally-ambiguous DigiTimes, the sources indicated that “Foxconn will procure panels and related modules from Sharp's 10G plant in Sakai, Japan. The procurement will keep the 10G plant at high capacity utilization.”
More specifically, the sources said, both Sharp and Foxconn being suppliers of Apple, “this cooperation may be aimed at obtaining orders for Apple TVs,” according to the aforementioned publication. “Apple may want to use Sharp's technology to produce Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) panels for Apple TVs,” according to the industry sources.