Industry news shows that due to the continued sluggishness in the LCD panel business, Sharp, which Hon Hai invested in, is advancing structural reforms and plans to close its subsidiary "Sharp Yonago" that is engaged in small and medium-sized LCD panel-related businesses.Sharp Yonago is expected to close by the end of July, and about 160 employees will be put into a voluntary separation program.
Sharp explained relevant arrangements to employees on January 28, including measures such as assistance in job transfer and additional severance pay. As for the subsequent use of the company's land and factories, it has not yet been determined.
The company was formerly the LCD subsidiary of Fujitsu, which was fully acquired by Sharp in 2005 and renamed.It was originally responsible for the production of small and medium-sized LCD panels, but it ceased production in 2019. Since then, it has mainly undertaken equipment cleaning and panel repair business at other locations.
The closure decision is directly related to the weak performance of Sharp's display components business. According to Sharp's financial report announced in November 2025, its revenue from the display component business (including PC/tablet and automotive panels) in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 (from July to September) fell 18.0% year-on-year to 102.6 million yen, and its operating loss also expanded from 1.6 billion yen in the same period last year to 6.2 billion yen.
Sharp predicts that the revenue of this division will continue to decline by 11.5% in fiscal year 2025 to 400.0 million yen, and the operating loss is expected to be 22 billion yen (loss of 26.9 billion yen in the previous fiscal year).
The closure of the subsidiary is Sharp's latest move to cope with the downturn in the LCD panel market and promote business restructuring.
