Print 26 comment(s) - last by michael2k.. on Aug 5 at 10:09 PM

In the three months ended June 30, Sharp had an operating loss of 94.1 billion yen ($1.20 billion)

Japanese TV maker Sharp has confirmed that it will be shipping the screens for Apple's next-generation iPhone this month -- and it looks like Sharp could really use the business after posting its worst net loss in a long time.

Takashi Okuda, Sharp president, announced at a press briefing in Tokyo that the company would begin shipping the new iPhone screens in August. However, a more exact date in unclear at this point.

Apple's next-generation iPhone, which is rumored to be announced on September 12, will have a slightly updated design with a screen that measures 3.999 inches diagonally (which is about 30 percent larger than the current iPhone 4S). The screens being sent Apple's way will also have a thinner screen with in-cell technology, which was developed by Sharp. This feature means that touch sensors are placed within the LCD, eliminating the extra touchscreen layer that usually accompanies the LCD. This will cut about half a millimeter of screen thickness from the iPhone's current 9.3-millimeter thick total frame.

The new iPhone will also have a smaller 19-pin dock connector (as opposed to the usual 30-pin), a relocated headphone jack, centered camera, and a unibody casing with metal backplates. 

Hardware isn't the only aspect being updated, though. The new iPhone will have the latest Apple mobile operating system iOS 6 built in.

Sharp has a good thing going with its position as the screen maker for one of the world's most popular smartphones, but the truth is that Sharp isn't doing so well in other aspects of its company. Its decreased TV demand and overcapacity at its main liquid crystal display plant have both contributed to Sharp's poor first-quarter earnings.

In the three months ended June 30, Sharp had an operating loss of 94.1 billion yen ($1.20 billion). One year earlier, it had an operating profit of $3.5 billion yen. According to Reuters, the most recent earnings report is the worst net loss the company has had in a century.

It doesn't get any better, though. Sharp predicts a full-year operating loss of 100 billion yen, up from its previous forecast of 20 billion yen.

Source: Reuters

Comments     Threshold


By HolgerDK on 8/2/2012 2:34:40 PM , Rating: 2
Because Apple wants to be special.

By Solandri on 8/2/2012 8:02:46 PM , Rating: 2
They're required by EU law to allow charging via a microUSB cable. They're the only phone manufacturer which hasn't complied. Instead, they'll give an iPhone owner who asks an adapter which will let them charge their iPhone with a microUSB cable.

The reason for the extra connectors is for the additional data input/outputs on the iPhone. But other phones (e.g. the ones with hdmi out) get around this by having a microUSB charging port and a second data port. Apple is just being stubborn because it doesn't want two connectors on their phone.

By Boze on 8/3/2012 11:41:00 AM , Rating: 2
God forbid I want to charge my phone in my truck, my car, my home, my office, and my boat.

Instead of using the other seven microUSB chargers I have already from various other phones I've owned, you're suggesting that I either:

a) Lug around the iPhone charger to all those locations


b) Buy additional chargers for the following locations:

i) Office
ii) Car
iii) Truck
iv) Boat

Kindly go to Hell with Steve Jobs, thanks.

By retrospooty on 8/3/2012 2:39:38 PM , Rating: 2
Not to mention when you travel. Whether for work, or vacation, you can always borrow someone's micro USB charger, because every phone made on planet Earth in the past 4 years has a standard connector, except of course for that one maker.

The additional funtionality = useless to most people and could be handled in other ways for those that need it.

