It's possible that Sharp will stop supplying television panels to Samsung Electronics within the next year, according to a Reuters source.
After the companies failed to agree on the terms of the arrangement, the joint venture of Japan's Sharp Corp and Taiwan's Foxconn, located in the city of Sakai, western Japan, will reportedly stop supplying liquid crystal display panels to South Korea's Samsung by next year.
Samsung, which is set to unveil a new advanced generation of Quantum Dot TV technology called QLED at CES 2017, may now turn to LG for TV panels if this decision is final. Samsung is currently Sharp's biggest client, with shipments of two to three million panels a year.
The decision comes as Sharp works to revive its TV business under the control of top shareholder Foxconn, the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer.
CE Pro will keep an eye on this development, as a television panel shortage could affect the CE industry the hardest. When panels are in short supply, as they have been before, retailers get first dibs on what's available. We could see a change in the steady decline of TV prices.
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