There is a report in the Wall Street Journal today that states that Sony and Sharp have teamed up and will share an LCD manufacturing facility that is currently being built in western Japan.
"Japanese electronics makers Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. said Tuesday they will form a joint venture to make liquid-crystal display panels for televisions at Sharp's new plant as both sides seek to solidify their positions in an increasingly competitive market.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sharp will spin off its LCD panel facilities at a new plant that it is building in western Japan, and share its ownership with Sony. Sharp will hold a controlling stake of 66% in the joint venture, with Sony taking the rest".
Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, but you can bet there were some large sums of money involved. With the impeding switch to digital TV here in the states early next year, it's reasonable to assume a whole slew of new LCD TVs are going to get sold. There's definitely some money to be made, and Sony and Sharp appear to be gearing up for the onslaught.
Marco Chiappetta
Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com
