MUNICH, Germany — Speaking at a press conference at the Electronica exhibition this week in Munich, Maximilian Huber, president of Sharp Microelectronics Europe (SME), a division of Sharp Electronics Europe GmbH, said there is no reason to get into the wind of panic blowing in the financial circles. Instead, he believes the right attitude is to pursue investments to fuel growth in its core businesses.
"I do not believe in the panic mode that is coming in the industry," Huber stated. "Everybody says it is so bad over and over again. I think we have to take a differentiated look. It is true that the automotive industry is in difficulties but consumers are still buying in Europe. The biggest turmoil is the swing of the currency, and this is not predictable."
Regarding Sharp's financial results, Huber said the company has slightly reduced the sales and profitability numbers. However, he added, "we are and will remain a profitable company to be able to invest in technology and, eventually, remain at the technological forefront."
In 2008, Huber said the biggest boost is coming from solar cells. "We have made major investments and will continue to do some. We are investing in the Sakai facility not only for energy generation but also for private usage."
In March 2008, Sharp started the construction of a 10G factory for LCD panels in Sakai, Japan. The company said it plans to use process steps for the production of thin film solar wafers as well. Production ramp-up is scheduled for early 2010 for LCD panels as well as for solar products. The investment volume is expected to amount to 380 billion yen.
Speaking to EE Times Europe after the press conference, Gerhard Scharf, manager of automotive business segment at Sharp, said 2009 will be a difficult year but no restructuring plan or layoffs are on the horizon. He commented: "We have to differentiate between the industries. The automotive industry is in difficulties while the consumer industry will recover earlier. Thus, it makes no sense to shut down facilities because there will be a new demand in 2010. By shutting them down today, it will prolong the crisis."
Scharf said Sharp is continuously investing and is going through the normal rationalization procedure when a company is going through a difficult period. "The selection process of investments is stricter and tighter than in the previous time."
Scharf confirmed that the group is focusing its investments on the Sakai G10 factory as technological advancements will have an impact on a multitude of segments. "Automotive and industrial businesses are benefiting from the consumer focus technology-wise and production capacity-wise."
He noted that the company's profit is going down this year but it is not in the red.
Asked about the company's financial health, Ralf Schaefer, Sharp's communication manager, told EETimes Europe that Sharp Corp. is expecting a growth of 8.6 percent on Yen base in the electronics components business for financial year 2008, ending March 31st 2009. This is mainly driven by the solar panel business.
Schaefer added that financial results at the corporate level have been lowered for next year but specified it is important to differentiate the end products and the components businesses. "From the component side, we are not too worried."
He outlined that Sharp is going through a reorganization process that has nothing to do with the economic situation. "We are organizing our company from a product-driven set up to an application-driven set-up to better serve our customers. This [the reorganization] was planned a long time ago and is taking place now."
