If you recall, Sharp hit the jackpot back in December, when Qualcomm promised to invest around $120 million in the troubled company in exchange for a five percent stake. Sharp already received the first half of that windfall at the tail end of 2012, whereas the remaining $60 million wasn’t going to distributed until “sufficient progress has been made.” If that last bit sounds vague, Sharp was actually being held to some clear terms: it had until March 29th to finalize specifications for new power-saving screens that will be used in both tablets and smartphones, and which Qualcomm will help produce. Sharp also needed to generate an operating profit of 100 billion yen ($1.05 billion) in the second half of its fiscal year, though a company spokesperson confirmed that’s not the reason this payment has been stalled. Fortunately, like those of us who ever started a paper too late, Sharp is getting an extension, with a new deadline of June 30th. In the meantime, though, its problems are festering: a deal for Foxconn to buy a 9.9 percent stake appears to have fallen through.
Filed under: HD
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Source: Reuters