Reports: Foxconn bids $5B for Sharp in a move that could help Apple

Both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that Foxconn has bid more than $5 billion to take over the struggling Japanese electronics vendor Sharp Corp. Sharp, which makes TV sets and LCD panels, has struggled financially and is reportedly due to pay back several billion in borrowings in March.

Foxconn, of course, is best known as the primary manufacturer of Apple's iPhone, and last September it tried to acquire Sharp's LCS business. As a Quartz report astutely points out, LCD screens are easily the priciest component in the iPhone 6 Plus. And while Foxconn manufacturers some iPhone components, it doesn't make LCD screens, which forces Apple to buy them from competing handset vendors such as LG and Samsung. So a Foxconn takeover of Sharp might enable Apple to lower its cost of iPhone manufacturing in a substantial way. Article