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Norikazu Hohshi, head of Sharp's device
business, said on Thursday that the company would be shipping
screens to 15 Chinese smartphone manufacturers this fiscal year
and that it was in talks to supply screens for 25 new Chinese
models, with shipments to begin as early as the January-March
quarter.
The recent rise of Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as
Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd [XTC.UL] helped to boost Sharp's
shipments of small and mid-sized liquid crystal displays by
around 50 percent in the six months to end-September, to $1
billion.
The company forecasts the business will bring in $2 billion in
revenue for the full year to next March.
Worries have mounted about softening prices of LCD screens for
Chinese smartphones. Japan Display Inc, the world's largest
maker of LCD screens for smartphones, last month warned that it
expected a 10 billion yen ($87 million) net loss for the year to
March, reversing a previous forecast for a net profit.
Hohshi acknowledged that there had been a sudden drop in LCD
screen prices for Chinese smartphones over the past six months
but said this had not affected the high-resolution screens that
Sharp is supplying.
(Reporting by Reiji Murai; Writing by Teppei Kasai; Editing by
Edmund Klamann)
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