“Japan’s Sharp Corp said it expected revenue from Chinese smartphone makers to increase fivefold in the six months to September after a jump in smartphone panel orders helped boost operating profit by 55 percent in the first quarter,” Sophie Knight reports for Reuters. “Sharp, which supplies panels for Apple Inc’s iPhone, said increased demand from major customers led it to earn an operating profit of 2.1 billion yen (12 million pounds) in its LCD panel business after posting a 9.5 billion yen loss on the unit in the same quarter last year.”
“A big part of that recovery was due to demand from rising stars in China’s smartphone market. Sharp’s president, Kozo Takahashi, said the company expected revenue from Chinese handset makers to swell to 100 billion yen in the first half of the business year to Sept. 30,” Knight reports. “Demand for its LCD panels has been a boon for Sharp as it restructures to recover from a massive 545.4 billion yen net loss in the year to March 2013, with the panel division now accounting for 46 percent of operating profit and a third of sales.”
“Sources with knowledge of the matter say that Sharp uses the Kameyama No.2 factory to make panels for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s RedMi phone and its RedMi 5.5 inch phablet. Xiaomi has grown rapidly to become the world’s fifth-largest smartphone vendor, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics,” Knight reports. “Sharp is said to have also started making panels for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 at its Kameyama No.1 factory with the new model scheduled for release around September.”
Read more in the full article here.
So, an Apple supplier went from a 9.5 billion yen loss to an operating profit of 2.1 billion yen BECAUSE OF A LARGE INCREASE IN SALES OF ANDROID PHONES.
This actually complements another story that I saw recently of how companies that previously released gaming apps only on iOS saw huge increase in profits after releasing versions of the games on Android because the iPad/iPhone owners compete online against the Android players who have the same game. So releasing games exclusively on iOS makes you less money from iOS than releasing them on both iOS and Android!
So when you include the people who abandon feature phones to initially become smartphone owners via cheaper Android devices and then later upgrade to iPhones, it is clear that Android benefits everybody. Including Apple. It is just that “certain people” have trouble admitting it …
What gets me is how much money Google makes from improving Android and getting 30% of App sales.
A hell of a lot less than Google makes on Ad sales from Apple products.
So, Apple really helps Google and Android a hell of a lot more than what Google brings to the table.
No Sharp for me. Give me a Samsung display please. Apple using Samsung components has always equalled quality.
For US readers:
As of today, ¥1 = $0.00975
¥2.1 billion = $20,475,000 profit
Bravo Sharp! Welcome back.