Sharp to Restructure in Effort to Boost Brand

TOKYO—Sharp Corp. will implement a large-scale corporate restructuring to achieve profitability, with the hope of restoring the brand's image as a global provider of innovative consumer electronics, the company's new chief executive said Monday.

"My mission as the leader of Sharp is to turn around this company without any further delay," said Tai Jeng-wu, who became CEO as part of the takeover by Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group.

Mr. Tai, Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou's right-hand man, took over from Kozo Takahashi when the ¥ 388.8 billion ($3.9 billion) deal to take more than a 60% stake in Sharp closed this month.

Mr. Gou said in April that he had pursued ownership of Sharp because of the Osaka-based company's record of innovative products, such as microwaves and air-purifiers, in addition to the fact that Sharp is a major display-panel provider for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and iPad.

On Monday, Mr. Tai said the company would invest aggressively in research and development and that Foxconn would provide support for component-procurement and manufacturing.

Mr. Tai also said a restructuring is necessary and would include cutting Sharp's workforce. Mr. Gou has repeatedly said there would be layoffs, and Sharp executives said previously that they would number in the thousands and mainly be at overseas locations.

Sharp fell into deep financial trouble a few years ago as it began to rely on the display-panel business, which is volatile because of the rapidly changing smartphone landscape. Before it sought to sell itself, Sharp had sold rights and assets, including the right to sell consumer electronics with the company's brand name.

Mr. Tai said he hopes to cancel such licensing deals to prop up the value of Sharp's brand.

"We want to polish Sharp's brand value by ourselves and make it shine globally," he said.

Write to Takashi Mochizuki at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2016 01:25 ET (05:25 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.