Foxconn’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Sharp recently passed anti-trust scrutiny in China and will now proceed as planned, according to a report from Reuters. In a statement made on the mater earlier today, Foxconn said that the two companies will now be able to move on and “complete the transaction in accordance with our agreement as soon as possible.”
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Corporate acquisitions aren’t typically all that noteworthy, but Foxconn’s interest in picking up Sharp is uniquely interesting insofar as it will help Foxconn keep up with what will likely be a tremendous number of OLED display orders once Apple’s 2017 iPhone is introduced. Remember, rumblings from the rumor mill point to Apple’s next-gen iPhone sporting an edge to edge OLED display, complete with embedded cameras and an embedded Touch ID sensor.
While Apple already makes use of OLED screens on devices like the Apple Watch, the sheer volume of sales that accompanies any new iPhone release is without parallel. That said, Foxconn bringing Sharp under its wing will only serve to position Foxconn as a more prominent partner in Apple’s vast supply chain.
Foxconn head Terry Gou said in June that in conjunction with the Sharp buy, that the company would be able to crank out OLED screens in quantities in 2017. Foxconn is said to be spending 200 billion yen to help develop its own source of the technology enabled by the Sharp purchase.
For as much as Apple invests in technologies many years down the line, it’s equally interesting to see Apple’s partners make their own strategic moves as a means to continue working with Apple for years on end.
