今年三月，當(dāng)夏普(Sharp)宣布將與全球最大的全約制造商鴻海(富士康, Foxconn)締結(jié)伙伴關(guān)系時(shí)，這家日本領(lǐng)先的LCD制造商便招來(lái)了一些仍相信日本握有強(qiáng)大制造實(shí)力和高科技優(yōu)勢(shì)人們的大量批評(píng)聲浪。批評(píng)內(nèi)容主要是認(rèn)為夏普和鴻海的協(xié)議是一種徹底的背叛──將靈魂出賣給臺(tái)灣企業(yè)。 但也有人稱贊夏普的勇氣。我正好是其中之一。 這份協(xié)議意味著，夏普這家歷史悠久的日本制造商已經(jīng)吞下了它的驕傲，竭力跟上全球電子制造市場(chǎng)的新標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。為了生存，夏普要找到新的道路。在我看來(lái)，夏普是首批意識(shí)到現(xiàn)實(shí)環(huán)境已然改變的企業(yè)之一。 時(shí)間快轉(zhuǎn)到2012年8月。 該協(xié)議于三月披露，在此之前，夏普和鴻海已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了一年的談判，但至今仍未落幕。截至目前，夏普還沒(méi)從鴻海那里拿到一分錢。 過(guò)去10天內(nèi)，我們看到兩家公司不斷爭(zhēng)吵，鴻海說(shuō)，該公司毋須兌現(xiàn)3月27日的協(xié)議，即以每股550日?qǐng)A收購(gòu)夏普10%，而夏普則堅(jiān)持三月的協(xié)議仍然有效。 這項(xiàng)最初被視為臺(tái)日歷史性合作的協(xié)議，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)變成電子產(chǎn)業(yè)中無(wú)法落幕的一出戲了。 夏普和鴻海之間的最新裂痕，說(shuō)明了一個(gè)這兩家亞洲企業(yè)都缺乏基本溝通技巧。但更令人不安的，似乎是缺乏紀(jì)律和對(duì)彼此的相互尊重。 夏普目前正處于“重大損害控制模式”之下，也就是說(shuō)，該公司正在“進(jìn)行各種談判，使其與鴻海在三月簽署的協(xié)議生效?！彪m然兩家公司目前都說(shuō)這筆交易正重新談判(鴻海表示本月底將公開(kāi)修訂后的協(xié)議)，但新協(xié)議的結(jié)構(gòu)依然不甚明朗。 這當(dāng)中究竟出了什么問(wèn)題？ 在檢討了兩家公司犯了什么錯(cuò)以前，讓我們先回顧一下他們?cè)谌鹿嫉某醪絽f(xié)議。 夏普和鴻海同意，鴻海取得夏普9.9%股份，而這家臺(tái)灣公司創(chuàng)辦人郭臺(tái)銘則自行出資，投入夏普Sakai廠──獲得46.5%股份。Sakai廠于2009年激活，可處理超大玻璃基板，被視為液晶面板生產(chǎn)的重要里程碑，但這座工廠由于運(yùn)作速率過(guò)低，因而一直面臨危機(jī)。 目前兩家公司之間的分歧點(diǎn)，在于夏普的股 票價(jià)格急劇下滑。 今年3月27日，鴻海同意支付每股550日?qǐng)A，在2013年3月底前收購(gòu)夏普的9.9%股份。但這家日本公司的股 票已經(jīng)下跌至雙方商議價(jià)格的三分之一左右。 據(jù)報(bào)導(dǎo)，鴻海董事長(zhǎng)郭臺(tái)銘說(shuō)他并關(guān)心夏普股 票價(jià)格的短期虧損。但在8月3日時(shí)，他卻突然宣布，兩家公司同意檢討收購(gòu)價(jià)格。夏普則迅速否認(rèn)同意重新談判，從而暴露出雙方的裂痕。 兩家公司目前必須做的事 上周，臺(tái)灣經(jīng)濟(jì)部宣布審查所有投資，退回鴻海收購(gòu)夏普10%股份的申請(qǐng)，認(rèn)為這項(xiàng)交易的投資報(bào)酬率“不夠合理”。 臺(tái)灣經(jīng)濟(jì)部投資審議委員會(huì)副執(zhí)行秘書(shū)張銘斌表示，這不代表這項(xiàng)交易被拒絕。投資審議委員會(huì)已要求鴻海提出更多與預(yù)期投資回報(bào)相關(guān)的信息。 夏普正處于不利情況，勢(shì)必得重新與鴻海談判。 8月2日，夏普宣布該公司在這個(gè)會(huì)計(jì)年度凈虧損2,500億日?qǐng)A，股價(jià)應(yīng)聲下跌28%，當(dāng)日以192日?qǐng)A作收，比當(dāng)初協(xié)議的每股550日?qǐng)A收購(gòu)價(jià)還低65%。 夏普也面臨著減少有息債務(wù)的壓力，截至六月底，其債務(wù)激增到約1.25兆日?qǐng)A。另外，夏普預(yù)計(jì)贖回債券預(yù)計(jì)也會(huì)造成該公司財(cái)務(wù)吃緊。 雖然兩家公司還未做出最終協(xié)議，但我建議雙方都先平靜下來(lái)，以推動(dòng)兩家公司發(fā)展為前提來(lái)進(jìn)行討論。 臺(tái)日聯(lián)手抗韓？ 鴻海郭臺(tái)銘的野心已經(jīng)不是秘密了：為富士康打造能超越韓國(guó)巨擘三星電子的技術(shù)實(shí)力，這確實(shí)不是什么秘密。但這家臺(tái)灣電子業(yè)大廠需要夏普。 對(duì)夏普來(lái)說(shuō)，鴻海能讓該公司再拓展市場(chǎng)。若夏普確實(shí)愿意進(jìn)一步將小型至中型LCD面板技術(shù)轉(zhuǎn)移到鴻海目前建設(shè)中的中國(guó)工廠，那么，在這項(xiàng)合作案中，鴻海所花的每一份錢都是值得的。但若鴻海的真正動(dòng)機(jī)是并吞夏普，僅將其納為子公司，則不僅夏普大失顏面，鴻海也會(huì)失去夏普的信任。 對(duì)鴻海來(lái)說(shuō)，這可能是最后一局。但若夏普無(wú)法接受最終協(xié)議，這家日本公司或許會(huì)開(kāi)始尋找其它投資者。無(wú)論如何，這項(xiàng)協(xié)議都已接近尾聲了。 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯： Joy Teng 參考英文原文：Foxconn outfoxes Sharp’s sharpest ，by Junko Yoshida

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{pagination} Foxconn outfoxes Sharp’s sharpest Junko Yoshida When Sharp announced in March its partnership with Hon Hai,the decision generated a torrent of criticism. Since then, things have gone horribly wrong. MADISON, Wisc. -- When Sharp Corp. announced in March its partnership with Hon Hai (also known as Foxconn), the world’s largest contract manufacturer, the decision by Japan’s leading LCD maker generated a torrent of criticism among those who still want to believe in Japan’s manufacturing prowess and high-tech superiority. Critics characterized the Sharp-Hon Hai agreement as outright betrayal; Japan was selling its soul to Taiwan. But others praised Sharp for its boldness. I happen to be one of them. The deal meant that Sharp had swallowed its pride as one of Japan’s old-line manufacturers, and is now committed to the new normal in the global electronics manufacturing market. It wants to find a new path to survival. I view Sharp as one of the first Japanese companies to have awakened to new realities. Fast forward to August, 2012. The deal unveiled in March – which Sharp and Hon Hai had already been negotiating for much of the previous year – is nowhere close to closure. So far, Sharp hasn’t seen a dime from Hon Hai. Instead, over the last 10 days, we’ve been witnessing daily spats between the two companies, with Hon Hai saying that the company didn't need to honor a March 27 agreement to acquire 10% of Sharp at 550 yen per share, while Sharp insisted that the March agreement was still valid. Originally billed as an historic collaboration between Taiwan and Japan, the agreement has turned into the sort of public theater that nobody in the electronics industry has seen for a long The latest rift between Sharp and Hon Hai illustrates a disturbing lack of basic communication skills between two Asian companies. But more disconcerting is what seems like the lack of discipline and mutual respect between them. Sharp, now in major damage-control mode, is saying that the company is "proceeding with various talks to make effective the agreement on a tie-up we signed with Hon Hai in March." While both companies now say that the deal is being re-negotiated (Hon Hai says that the revised deal will be announced at the end of this month), the structure of the new agreement remains far from clear. What has gone wrong? But before examining what went wrong between the two companies, let’s recap the initial deal announced by the two companies in March. Sharp and Hon Hai agreed to Hon Hai’s taking a 9.9 percent stake in Sharp, while the Taiwanese firm's billionaire founder Terry Gou invested his own money into Sharp’s Sakai fab – gaining a 46.5 percent share. The Sakai fab – opened in 2009, capable of handling super-large glass substrates – is considered an important milestone in LCD panel production but it has been struggling with a disappointingly low run rate. Central to the current disagreement between the two companies is a dramatic slide in Sharp’s stock price. Hon Hai agreed on March 27 to pay 550 yen per share to acquire a 9.9% stake in Sharp by the end of March 2013. But the Japanese manufacturer's stock later fell to about one-third of the price that the two sides had agreed on. Hon Hai Chairman Gou reportedly took this revolting development in stride at first, saying he didn't care about short-term losses in Sharp's stock price. But on Aug. 3, he suddenly announced that the two companies had agreed to review the purchase price. Sharp quickly denied agreeing to renegotiate, thus exposing the rift and revealing the shaky ground on which the original agreement now stands. What the two companies must do now To fuel its uncertainty, last Thursday (Aug. 9th), Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, which reviews all outgoing investments, announced that it returned Hon Hai’s application for a regulatory review of its planned purchase of a 10% stake in Sharp on the grounds that the expected investment return on the deal "isn't reasonable enough." Emile Chang, deputy executive secretary of Taiwan's Investment Commission, reportedly said the Ministry’s move doesn't mean the deal has been rejected. The Investment Commission has asked Hon Hai to submit more information regarding the expected investment returns. Sharp currently couldn’t be in a much worse position to re-negotiate the deal with Hon Hai. On Aug. 2nd, Sharp announced that the company is expecting a net loss of 250 billion yen in the current fiscal year, prompting a 28 percent drop in share price, to close at 192 yen, 65 percent below the 550 yen-per-share Foxconn agreed to pay for the stake. Sharp is also under pressure to slash interest-bearing debt, which ballooned to about 1.25 trillion yen as of the end of June. The scheduled redemption of Sharp's corporate bonds is also expected to put a strain on the company's financing. While the two companies scramble to salvage the deal, I suggest both parties take a deep breath and agree on the basic principle that drove the two companies to talk in the first place. Taiwan/Japan vs. Korea? It’s no secret that Hon Hai’s Gou has harbored a naked ambition: build technology prowess at Foxconn that surpasses Korean giant Samsung Electronics. For that, the Taiwan giant needs Sharp. For Sharp, Hon Hai will free it to spread its wings beyond the domestic market. If Sharp indeed is willing to transfer the company’s advanced, small-to-medium LCD panel technology to a Hon Hai fab in China, currently under construction, the partnership with Sharp should be worth every penny to the Taiwn EMS giant. But if Hon Hai’s true motive is to gobble up Sharp and run it as its subsidiary, Hon Hai is not only losing Sharp’s face but also losing the company’s trust. This might be the end game for Hon Hai, after all. But if Sharp is really uncomfortable with this alliance, maybe it’s time for the Japanese company to start looking for another investor. Either way, this deal is clearly running out of time.