Sharp's Sakai Display Company Ceases Production, Marking an End to Japan's Domestic TV Panel Manufacturing

TapTechNews August 21st news, Sharp Corporation today released an announcement stating that its Sakai (TapTechNews note pronunciation: jiè) Display Products Corporation (SDP, Sakai City) has completely ceased production.

This factory is the only factory in Japan that produces liquid crystal panels for TV. With the suspension of the Sakai factory, TV panels made in Japan's domestic territory have become a thing of the past.

The Japan Kyodo News reported that SDP has been reducing panel production since June this year, and about 500 of the approximately 800 employees have decided to leave voluntarily. Subsequently, SDP will provide subsidies equivalent to a maximum of 24 months' income according to the employees' ages.

In 2022, Sharp turned the LCD large factory Sakai Display Products Corporation into a wholly-owned subsidiary for about 296 million US dollars (currently about 2.11 billion yuan). In fact, SDP was once a consolidated subsidiary of Sharp and was later changed to be jointly operated with Hon Hai Precision Industry Company.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Sharp almost single-handedly promoted the popularization of LCD TVs and once became a leading enterprise in LCD TVs, and was also known as the Father of LCD.

The company mainly produces large liquid crystal panels for TVs and has suffered losses in the price war with overseas companies such as those in China and South Korea, resulting in the display business continuously struggling. Sharp fell into a final loss situation again for the first time in 5 years in the fiscal year 2022 (ending in March 2023).

In the future, the company plans to integrate semiconductor elements into large liquid crystal panels and commercialize them as TV displays. The company plans to stop selling this product to its business partners by the end of March 2025.