夏普过度“偏食”面板业务会营养不良？

受惠于智能手机与平板电脑应用之中小尺寸液晶面板的强劲需求，日本面板大厂夏普(Sharp)近日公布的最新一季(4~6月)财报显示当季营业利润达46亿日圆(约4,500万美元)，较去年同期成长了55%；不过该公司仍未能转亏为盈，当季净损17亿日圆，是连续第四季亏损。 夏普最新一季的财报结果同时暴露了该公司的强项与弱势，好消息是中小型液晶面板需求稳定，该公司大客户包括苹果(Apple)与中国智能手机品牌小米 (Xiaomi)。但夏普的能源解决方案业务却因为日本与海外市场的住宅太阳能面板应用需求下滑而亏损，该公司能源业务第一季营业利润大幅下滑 97.3%，来到1亿日圆(97万5,000美元)。 造成夏普净亏损的是一些特定支出，包括143亿日圆(1.4亿美元)的 欧洲太阳能电池制造据点与太阳能发电厂营运成本；夏普持有与意大利电厂Enel SpA子公司Enel Green Power SpA合资企业3Sun的股份，稍早之前表示只要取得来自3Sun的贷款批准，就会以1欧元的象征性价格出售手中33.3%的持股。 夏普在尝试从巨额亏损中复苏的同时，也专注于削减成本以及抛弃无利润业务；虽然夏普的净亏损已经从一年前同期的179亿美元缩减至17亿美元，该公司对液晶面板业务的依赖仍未改变，而这正是近年来让夏普深陷泥淖的产品项目──所以夏普正在掏空自己？ 日经新闻(Nikkei)的一篇报导指出，夏普龟山二号厂(Kameyama No.2 plant)生产的高分辨率IGZO面板将于本月开始出货，新面板产品将能与该公司三重三号厂(Mie No. 3 plant)生产的高分辨率显示器媲美。夏普大动作将原本生产大尺寸电视面板的龟山厂，转向生产智能手机与平板设备应用的较小型面板，同时也积极缩减 IGZO面板的成本。 而因为龟山二号厂原本设计是采用较大尺寸玻璃基板，夏普认为那些基板每片能产出十倍以上的智能手机面板。据了解，夏普将在龟山二号厂为小米的“红米机”以及5.5吋“红米Note”生产手机面板。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Has Sharp Dug Itself Out?，by Junko Yoshida {pagination} Has Sharp Dug Itself Out? Junko Yoshida TOKYO — Helped by strong demand for the small and midsized LCD panels used in smartphones and tablets, Sharp Corp. reported for the latest April-June quarter an operating profit of 4.6 billion yen (US$45 million), up 55 percent from the same period a year ago. Sharp, however, failed to earn a net profit for the quarter. The company logged a net loss of 1.7 billion yen, marking four consecutive first-quarter losses. The latest quarterly results exposed both Sharp's strengths and weaknesses. The good news is the demand for small and midsized LCD panels, as Sharp's lead customers are said to include both Apple and Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Sharp, meanwhile, has struggled with its energy solution business, as solar panel demand for residential applications both in Japan and overseas has dropped. Operating profit in Sharp's energy business unit shrank dramatically by 97.3 percent to 100 million yen (US$975,000) in the first quarter. Contributing to the net loss were special costs, including 14.3 billion yen (US$140 million) for exiting solar cell production and solar power generation in Europe. Sharp is handing its share of joint venture 3Sun to partner Enel Green Power SpA, a subsidiary of Italian utility Enel SpA. Sharp said earlier that it would sell its 33.3 percent stake for a token ? as soon as it receives approval from 3Sun's lenders. As Sharp tries to recover from heavy losses, it is focused on cutting costs and dumping unprofitable businesses. Although the net loss narrowed to 1.7 billion yen from a loss of 17.9 billion yen during the same period a year ago, Sharp's dependence on the LCD business hasn't changed. It continues to rely on LCD panels -- the very product segment that put Sharp in a big hole in recent years -- to dig itself out. Nikkei, Japan's economic journal, reported that Sharp will start shipping high-resolution IGZO (indium-gallium-zinc oxide) panels this month from the company's Kameyama No.2 plant. This will be in addition to the comparable high-resolution displays Sharp has been producing at its Mie No. 3 plant. The production shift at Kameyama No. 2 from large TV panels to volume manufacture of smaller panels for smartphones and tablets is significant, as Sharp races to reduce the cost of IGZO panels. Because the Kameyama No. 2 plant was originally designed to use larger glass substrates, Sharp believes those substrates could yield 10 times more smartphone panels per sheet. Sharp is reportedly using Kameyama No. 2 to produce panels for Xiaomi's RedMi smartphone and its RedMi 5.5 inch phablet.