# Sharp Exits North American Television Market



## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

Sharp and its Aquos moniker have been mainstays in the display world for years. As evidenced by the company’s early adoption of LCD technologies, the unveiling of the world’s first 80-inch HDTV, and innovations such as a yellow sub-pixel integrated for picture quality, Sharp has desperately tried to stay relevant in a dog-eat-dog television market. But, much like Toshiba’s recent decision to abandon the U.S. television market, Sharp has decided to raise a giant white flag; it too is leaving North America. 










As reported by multiple news outlets, including PR Newswire, Sharp is following its 2014 decision to leave the European television market by selling its North American operation to the Chinese brand Hisense for a cool $23.7 million. According to Forbes, Sharp’s overall electronics business has been hemorrhaging money this year with a reported first quarter loss of $230 million…making change inevitable. 

This doesn’t mean that the Sharp name will completely disappear from store shelves. The reported terms of the deal indicate that Hisense will take over Sharp’s Mexican production facility (China Daily reports this facility can produce 3 million LCDs per year) in addition to Sharp’s name in North and South American markets. In other words, Hisense has completely taken-over Sharp’s presence in these markets.

Hisense has been a dominant brand within China, following a Samsung and LG approach of selling consumer electronics and appliances, along with other goods. In recent years, the company has extended its reach worldwide with fairly healthy reported profits. Within the North American market, Hisense has been selling very inexpensive 4K televisions in stores such as Walmart. According to Hisense, the Sharp deal is expected to increase revenues in the Western hemisphere by nearly $2 billion.

Hisense is said to be the world’s fourth largest television manufacturer, which means it is lagging behind Samsung, LG, and Sony. However, the company is gaining quick ground and pressuring Japanese and South Korean electronics manufacturers. They had a notable presence at CES 2015 and it will be interesting to see what they bring to Vegas this coming January.

_Image Credit: Sharp_


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## tripplej (Oct 23, 2011)

I wonder if the new "Sharp" TV's will use the panels from Sharp's old manufacturing plants or they will be from China's Hisense manufacturing plant?

It will be interesting also to see if other manufacturer's will continue to use Sharp panels or not? Lot of manufacturers sell TV's with sharp panels underneath, I believe.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

My understanding is that Sharp TVs will continue to feature Sharp tech. Not sure how long that will last, but, should be true for the foreseeable future.


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