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sharp, the "father of lcd", which is famous for its lcd panels and other electrical components, chose to try to enter the fast-growing electric vehicle market after its main business fell into a cold state. for sharp, which had just closed its tv panel factory and was abandoned by apple, it hoped to make cars a new pillar. however, from the current new energy landscape, the environment for new energy vehicles in japan is not good. local automakers led by toyota are more optimistic about new energy fuel vehicles, such as hydrogen energy, and they believe that pure electric energy vehicles are just a transition.

new car release

sharp recently revealed at a press conference held in tokyo that the company will showcase its first concept electric vehicle "ldk+" at the "sharp tech-day'24" technology exhibition held at the tokyo international forum from september 17 to 18.

ldk+ is usually understood by the outside world as a joint abbreviation of "living room, dining room and kitchen" in a house. sharp said that the meaning of "ldk+" is the extension of the buyer's home. the interior of the car is designed as an "extended living room", emphasizing the comfort and functionality when the vehicle is parked. the concept car will be equipped with sharp's self-developed artificial intelligence technology and related sensor technology, aiming to provide a comfortable mobile living and office space.

the introduction video shows that the rear seats of the vehicle can be rotated backwards, and the side windows are equipped with liquid crystal sunshades, which can immediately create a private space once the door is closed. the air conditioning and lighting brightness in the car can be automatically adjusted according to the user's habits in daily life. the rear of the vehicle is also equipped with a 65-inch display screen for watching movies, children's games or working remotely alone. in addition, the car is also equipped with energy storage batteries and solar panels, which can be connected to the home's energy system to power the house when a disaster occurs.

the new concept car is developed based on the cooperation between sharp, hon hai technology group (foxconn) and japanese start-up electric vehicle company folofly, using the electric vehicle platform provided by foxconn. according to information, folofly is known for its focus on the development of small and micro civilian/commercial electric vehicles and related infrastructure services of the same size as the ldk+ concept car. the company was founded in august 2021 and is headquartered in the international science innovation building of kyoto university in kyoto, japan. the company adopts a factory-free production model and has successfully completed multiple rounds of financing.

a sharp spokesman admitted at a press conference that the emergence of new products, namely electric vehicles, stems from the pressure caused by the shrinking of the main business. sharp said that since the lcd panel business that supports the company's operations has shrunk due to the sluggish market, the company hopes to make electric vehicles a new pillar of revenue.

data shows that sharp has been facing continuous losses in the past period of time. its net sales in fiscal 2023 fell by nearly 10%, and the main loss areas were its display and electronic equipment departments, which have always been considered strong. in terms of operating profit, the company recorded a net loss of 14.99 billion yen in fiscal 2023. in the second quarter of this year, the company's consolidated revenue further declined by 1.7%.

main business is sluggish

in fact, sharp is also reducing its panel business. the company recently officially announced that its factory in sakai city, japan, which produces large-size lcd panels for tvs, "sakai display products co., ltd." (sdp), has completely stopped production. this move marks the official end of the production of lcd panels for tvs in japan, as sharp is the only manufacturer in japan that produces such products.

since sharp's sakai plant was established in 2009, it has been an important base for the production of lcd tv panels in japan, with a total investment of 430 billion yen (about 21.1 billion yuan). however, in recent years, with the intensification of market competition, especially the fierce price competition from china and south korea, as well as the rapid changes in the global panel market, the operating conditions of the plant have continued to deteriorate, becoming a major drag on sharp's performance.

another industry voice believes that the strategic mistake of the company's decision-makers - re-acquiring sdp, which was originally spun off from the listed company, eventually led sharp into the abyss. after hon hai group acquired sharp in 2016, sdp, which had poor performance, was spun off from sharp's listed company, and sharp turned losses into profits; but in 2022, when the lcd cycle fluctuated violently, sharp spent nearly us$300 million to acquire sdp again in order to boost sales in the north american market. this move also laid the groundwork for sharp to suffer huge losses for two consecutive years.

sharp is also being left behind in terms of mobile phone screens. about a decade ago, jdi and sharp together accounted for about 70% of the iphone screen market. but recently, the two suppliers have only provided lcd screens for the iphone se as apple has switched to oled screens for high-end iphone models, a market dominated by korean and chinese companies.

it is reported that from 2025, all iphone models sold by apple will use oled screens, including the low-end iphone se model. multiple sources said that apple has begun ordering oled screens for the upcoming iphone se from china's boe and south korea's lg display. this change marks the end of lcd screens in the iphone product line, and also means that two panel suppliers, sharp and jdi, will be excluded from apple's mobile phone business.

pressure to build a car

sharp's suspension of production not only means the end of domestic tv lcd panel production in japan, but also reflects major changes in the global panel industry. in the past, japan was an important player in the global tv lcd panel market, and sharp was known as the "father of lcd". however, with the rapid rise of the panel industry in china, south korea and other countries, the competitiveness of japanese companies in this field has gradually weakened.

liang zhenpeng, a senior home appliance industry analyst, said, "the production cost of lcd panels in japan remains high, and it is unable to compete with chinese companies. it is only a matter of time before the production lines are closed due to continuous losses." in comparison, chinese and korean home appliance companies have higher operating efficiency, faster internal decision-making, and higher sensitivity to market demand. in contrast, japanese home appliance companies usually suffer from big enterprise disease, redundant management structure, slow response to the market, and often miss market opportunities. various factors have caused japanese companies to lag behind and withdraw from the home appliance industry.

regarding cross-border car manufacturing, liang zhenpeng said that these home appliance giants have considerable advantages in terms of technology and r&d capabilities, such as innate basic advantages in the r&d and manufacturing of core components such as motors and compressors. in addition, sharp has considerable oem manufacturing advantages backed by foxconn, which has invested heavily in the electric vehicle industry worldwide in recent years, covering china, southeast asia, the united states and many other countries or regions.

but sharp still has a long way to go in terms of car manufacturing. as sharp's partner, foxconn's progress in the field of automobile manufacturing has been unsatisfactory. since announcing its entry into the automotive field, foxconn has been doing oem for companies such as fisker, which went bankrupt this year.

relevant comments indicate that even without considering the current widespread problems such as the decline in popularity of electric vehicles, considering that deliveries of this magnitude can be completed even with manual assembly, it is difficult for automobile oem to become foxconn's new business pillar.

beijing business daily reporter zhao tianshu