Sharp Still Quiet on Where It Plans to Produce 4K, 8K TVs for US Market

on all goods imported from Mexico beginning June 10 (see 1905310014). Weedfald didn’t respond to questions Friday seeking reaction to the Mexico tariffs threat. Sharp Home Electronics President Jim Sanduski told us this month the Japanese TV maker was “still working out” where it would assemble the U.S.-bound TVs, saying, “We have good options to choose from” (see 1905100067). He said then that Sharp is two-thirds owned by Foxconn, which has a Mexico plant that could be put to use as an assembly facility. Sharp sold its Mexico manufacturing plant to Hisense in 2016. Meanwhile, Sharp announced Thursday its kitchen appliances will be available to the 5,500 member dealers of Nationwide Marketing Group operating from more than 14,000 U.S. storefronts. Weedfald told us Sharp decided to go with Nationwide now because the buying group is a “perfect partner extension” for the company’s “growth strategy and market investments.” Sharp is “on the march toward gaining market share” in kitchen appliances and 4K and 8K TVs through “formidable channel relationships and focused extensions of our current distribution construct,” he said. The announcement was specific to kitchen appliances, but Sharp continues to “appreciate and admire Nationwide’s wider market penetration within the CE and television market and look forward to future discussions as we mature our channel strategy, deliverables and focus.”