Osaka-based Sharp was acquired in 2016 by Foxconn and it has been on a road to recovery since then. It appears that the company might be thinking about returning to the PC business after quitting it eight years ago. Sharp has announced its decision to acquire Toshiba’s PC business for $36 million and some believe that this is the first step that the company is taking in its eventual return to the PC market.
Sharp confirmed in a statement today that it’s going to pay 4 billion yen or $35.47 million for an 80.1 percent stake in Toshiba’s PC business. The acquisition may allow Sharp to compete in the PC market directly once and given that it’s now owned by Foxconn, one of the biggest contract manufacturers on the planet, it may find it cheaper to manufacture the devices as well.
It made a decision to exit the PC market back in 2010 even though it was once a major player in the industry going as far back as the 1970s. It later struggled to keep up with other Asian rivals as well in the high-end TV and smartphone display markets which led to the company eventually being acquired by Foxconn two years ago for $3.6 billion.
It remains to be seen, though, if Sharp will slap its own branding on new PC products because Toshiba intends to continue providing brand licensing for computers.