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MANILA - Japanese electronics firm Sharp on Friday announced that it will expand its manufacturing operations in the Philippines to include assembly of LCD TVs.
In a press conference held marking the company’s 100th anniversary, executive said they will include assembly of LCD TV sets with sizes 32 inches and below to its factory in Alabang beginning next month.
Sharp Philippines Corp. senior vice president for marketing Emmanuel Valencia said the CRT assembly lines would shift to LCD to meet high demand for such TV sets.
He said the 4,000 units the company will produce each month will be sold locally amid the difficulties posed by a strengthening peso.
"[The LCD TVs] will not be cheaper than the ones produced by [Korean manufacturers]," Valencia said. "We will focus on quality."
Sharp claims a 30-40 percent share of the local LCD market, and plans to grow sales by 10 percent this year.
The Japanese firm, besieged by intense competition from other Asian manufacturers, belied reports it will sell off business units, such as display manufacturing and air-conditioning.
"Sharp is in the process of revitalizing its business and exploring all options to improve its financial conditions," said Takahiro Tanaka, president and general manager of Sharp Philippines. "With the measures we are taking now, we will come out of this strong."
Sharp suffered a bloodletting in early August with its shares diving to 40-year lows in Tokyo after it reported enormous quarterly losses and warned of more to come.
The Nikkei said Sharp is mulling a spinoff of its Kameyama plant in central Mie prefecture, which makes LCD panels for smartphones and tablet computers, including Apple's iPhone and iPad.
Tanaka said he is evaluating and working on various studies to determine the current market situation and positioning of the company, with an eye to producing new items at competitive prices.
"We want to be part of the continuous economic growth of the Philippines by producing and selling locally," he added.
Some of the products the company manufactures locally are videoke units and washing machines, which executives said have enjoyed strong demand.
Sharp likewise unveiled on Friday its fresh lineup of big-sized Aquos LCD TVs, with sizes ranging from 60-80 inches.
Valencia said the company is pinning the future of its LCD lineup on these big-sized TV sets because of higher margins in the segment.
"[Korean manufacturers] actually don't make money out of selling 32-inch screens," he said. "It's just a matter of volume."
The Aquos 80-inch LCD TV is the biggest of its kind introduced locally, and includes Sharp's proprietary Quattron technology that injects a yellow band into the standard red, green, and blue bands found in most TVs.
It will retail for P599,998 locally. The 70-inch model will be sold for P377,789, while the 60-inch, P246,698.
With a report from Agence France-Presse
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