"Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?

Back in early November I posted a poll on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. We asked "Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?  The response was a simple yes or no.

If you're a new reader, please let me give you a little background about the Print4Pay Hotel. The short and sweet of the Print4Pay Hotel is that we started a web forums for imaging industry people back in 2003.  To date we have close to 2,000 registered members, we also cull the membership to keep our email list up to date (since many in our industry come and go).  It's my belief and I've heard this from many others, that the Print4Pay Hotel members is a conglomerate of the best of breed sales people, managers and dealers owners from around the globe.

If you've not been hiding under a rock for the last six months then you know that Sharp, Japan has been overburdened with debt. This debt was accumulated from large losses, the mortgaging of almost all of their properties and recent titanic bank loans from Japanese banks.  Lately, Sharp is in somewhat of a small rebound due to the recent yen declining against the US dollar, a small investment from Qualcom (small compared to the debt that Sharp owes) and the recent statement that Sharp expects to turn a profit  for the last fiscal quarter of this year (ends March 31st).

Some recent threads that were posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums were this:

"Sharp's issues are related to the flat screen TV's etc. There is a market glut and it's been impairing cash flow and inventories. The MFD (copiers) division is profitable and at the worst, expect a merger as was the case with Konica -Minolta. Their products are solid as their track record".

"I think it is already a foregone conclusion. Kyocera would be good because people are used to saying Kyocera-Mita and now it will be Kyocera-Sharp".

While there has been much speculation as what Sharp Japan will do with the MFP (Copier) division, I think the poll that we posted speaks for its self. Members that were polled were 63%  that Sharp will sell the MFP division.

Here's what I've seen over the last few months. Sharp USA has been adding new dealers like never before and it could be because they lost some dealers that dropped them, or they always been adding new dealers but just never posted press releases. Every article or Press Release I read aside from Sharp USA press releases is related to either ipad screen production, their IGZO technology, TV's, LCD displays or Sharp cell phones.

At this point in time, your guess as to what will happen with the copier division is just as good as mine. If someone asked me if I would bet the ranch that Sharp will sell the copier division, I probably wouldn't take that bet right now.  Ask me after March 31st.

-=Good Selling=-