As Sharp Corp. prepares to be taken over by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., it is planning to develop household appliances jointly with its new partner and aims to have televisions ready for sale by the end of the year, an executive at the Japanese firm said Thursday.
Of all new products, the TVs will probably be ready fastest, Yoshisuke Hasegawa, an executive managing officer, told reporters. "We're also thinking of producing the jointly developed products at Hon Hai's factories."
The development plan kicks off efforts to reconstruct Osaka-based Sharp, which clinched the deal with Hon Hai on April 2 after protracted negotiations in the public eye.
Once takeover proceedings are complete, the firms plan to expand product collaboration beyond TVs, allowing Sharp to access Hon Hai's sales channels as well as reducing production costs.
Hon Hai, also known by its trade name Foxconn, agreed to pay ¥389 billion for a 66 percent stake in the struggling Japanese manufacturer.