Who makes Sharp TVs and where?

Sharp TVs have been manufactured by Sharp Corporation for sale worldwide since 2019. The corporation itself has been owned by Hon Hai Corporation (Foxconn) since 2016. Previously, in the period 2015-2018, the Sharp TV brand was licensed to third parties. TVs for the USA were produced by the Chinese company Hisense, and for Europe – by the Slovak company SKYTEC UMC; Some of the TVs were assembled in Belarus for the market of post-Soviet countries.

The production of Sharp televisions, currently.

Currently, after the integration of Sharp into Foxconn, the production of components for televisions is decentralized between the corporation’s enterprises. Final assembly of TVs is carried out at five Sharp factories:

1. SCEP Factory (Torun, Poland): Sharp Consumer Electronics Polish Sp. z o.o, is a factory where TVs are assembled for Europe. Locating the plant in Poland is beneficial for the company as it identifies the products as manufactured in the European Union, which in turn optimises taxes.
2. SMM (Johor, Malaysia): Sharp Manufacturing Corporation (M) Sdn. Bhd, This factory in Malaysia produces televisions for Singapore and other countries in the region, this factory specializes in assembling televisions.
3. NSEC (Nanjing, China): Nanjing Sharp Electronics Co., Ltd. This company produces components and TVs themselves mainly for the US market. This company produces not only Sharp TVs, but also other brands. The components are supplied to other TV manufacturers; One of the main recipients of the plant’s products is LG’s subsidiary in Mexico.
4. SPC (Manila, Philippines): Sharp (Phils.) Corporation, This plant assembles Sharp televisions, the capacity of the television assembly line is about 400,000 televisions per year, this is not the main profile of the plant; the plant also produces large and small household appliances as well as audio products.
5. SEID (Karawang, Indonesia): P.T. Sharp Electronics Indonesia, Indonesia has a large factory for TVs and large home appliances; this factory was once expanded by Sharp’s old management to move major production there from Japan.

Production of Sharp TVs during the brand licensing period 2015-2018

During this period, televisions were produced by Sharp for markets with strong positions in Japan and Singapore and by third-party companies that licensed the brand. You can learn more about the history of Sharp TVs in the article “The History of Sharp TVs,” and when it comes to the production of TVs and where they were manufactured, here’s how things were at the time:

North America: the rights to the brand were licensed to China’s Hisense. During this period, Hisense TVs with the Sharp logo were sold under the Sharp brand; the TVs were assembled in Mexico at the former Sharp factory, which Hisense bought out. The brand was bought out in 2019; the factory remained owned by Hisense.

Europe: The brand was licensed to SKYTEC UMC, a Slovakian company that specializes in the final assembly of various products, including TVs. Along with the brand, the Company acquired an assembly plant in Poland. In 2016, Sharp acquired a majority stake in SKYTEC UMC; in 2019, Sharp entirely bought out the Company.

Asia region and Japan: Sharp retained the brand rights in this region and continued to manufacture TVs in its factories until 2018. Premium TV models were produced in Japanese factories for the domestic market only. 

Sharp TVs in other regions: For some regions, for example the countries of the former CCCP, Sharp TVs during this period were assembled at the Horizon plant in the Republic of Belarus. It was a contract production of televisions.

Production of Sharp TVs until 2014

Until 2014, Sharp operated as an independent designer and manufacturer of televisions. The company’s strategic decision to concentrate on producing LCD panels and televisions was supported by the construction of its own LCD panel factories and assembly lines.

Sharp’s global manufacturing presence was extensive. In North America, televisions intended for this market were assembled in a plant located in Mexico. For the Japanese market, televisions were assembled inside Japan. For the European market, Sharp opened a production facility in Poland. In addition, the company has production facilities in Indonesia, China, and Malaysia.

Despite Sharp’s dominance in the LCD TV segment, from 2000 to 2007, competitors such as Samsung, LG, and Sony significantly increased the competitive landscape by starting to produce LCD panels. These events created severe problems for Sharp’s market position, ultimately leading to significant financial problems.