According to several recent rumors, Foxconn plans to use its investment in Sharp to secure orders for Apple's upcoming TV. The latest speculation comes from Asia Ho Chao-yang, former president of Taiwan's largest LCD maker Chimei Innolux, and current chairman of Chi Mei Materials Technology, who said that Foxconn Electronics' investment in Sharp is part of a strategy to "secure iTV orders from Apple," Taipei-based DigiTimes reported.
Ho further noted that an iTV launch would benefit polarizer makers, including Chi Mei Materials. This is not the first time theories start surfacing regarding Foxconn's relationship with Sharp. When news first surfaced earlier this year that Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai, would invest $1.6 billion in Sharp, the tech world went wild with speculation. Daiwa Capital Markets' analysts claimed at the time that the Sharp - Foxconn partnership heralded a new TV from Apple.
"We expect Apple to debut the iTV by the end of this year, and it is likely to adopt Sharp's 10th generation TFT production line to product TFT LCDs for iTVs," wrote the analysts, noting that the investment in Sharp gives Foxconn better "vertical integration" for the Apple iTV.
On the other hand, just last month Foxconn CEO Terry Gou dismissed any claims that his company was working on an Apple HDTV, and right now Foxconn is not revealing anything. It may be Apple's biggest manufacturing partner, but the truth is it would not be Foxconn's place to publicly announce it was working on an upcoming Apple product. Making announcements to the world is Apple's duty, but lots of rumors, leaks and speculations always surface ahead of official announcements.
If rumors and speculation are not to be taken very seriously, Apple's late CEO himself, the iconic Steve Jobs, indicated that a new Apple TV may be arriving soon. Jobs said he wanted "to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use," and noted that he had "finally cracked it." We won't know for sure what that translates into until the new gadget arrives, but expected features for Apple's upcoming HDTV include Retina display, iCloud integration, IGZO technology, Siri, FaceTime, and many other cool features.
