Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is to hold a sales meeting with Sharp Corp at Foxconn’s plant in Shenzhen, China, next Monday in an effort to help boost the sales of the Japanese company’s products worldwide, a top Hon Hai executive said yesterday.
“We plan to discuss sales in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, India, China and Hong Kong during the meeting,” Hon Hai vice chairman Tai Cheng-wu (戴正吳) told reporters on the sidelines of a Sharp product demonstration event at one of Hon Hai’s factories in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城).
It is widely believed that Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) is to personally host the sales meeting with Sharp’s top executives at the company’s Longhua manufacturing plant in Shenzhen.
Photo: CNA
Hon Hai has been attempting to help Sharp turn its operations around after the Taiwanese firm inked an agreement with Sharp on April 2 to strategically invest ￥388.8 billion (US$3.49 billion) in the Japanese company.
Hon Hai on Friday last week began a six-day demonstration of Sharp’s products at Hon Hai’s three factories in Tucheng, showcasing a series of Sharp’s latest white goods, such as an air purifier that catches mosquitoes.
Hon Hai employees were able to purchase the products at exclusively discounted prices and sales topped NT$1 million (US$30,921), Hon Hai consumer sales department manager and event organizer Onion Ding (丁洋中) told reporters.
The company plans to launch similar events at its plants in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, Ding said, adding that employees of Hon Hai’s panel subsidiary Innolux Corp (群創) could also take advantage of the discounts.
Hon Hai also plans to host similar events in its more than 30 manufacturing plants across China.
In an effort to boost Sharp’s sales, Tai said Hon Hai would also set up flagship stores for the Japanese firm at these 30 plants.
Tai said he and Sharp consumer electronics president Yoshisuke Hasegawa have been discussing the possibility of developing robotic devices for the mass market.
Robotic devices could have many applications in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) field, Tai said, adding that in his opinion IoT and smart devices are the future for Sharp.
In related news, Tai said Hon Hai plans to put forward a candidate to take over as Sharp’s president and chief executive officer at the beginning of next month.
“A decision will be made on May 12, and whether or not Sharp announce the decision in its general meeting for shareholders on June 23 will be up to the company,” Tai said.
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