Sharp asks employees to start buying its products

Japanese-based electronics company Sharp has dealt with struggling sales for some time now. To circumvent its latest quarter of financial losses, the company has sent out a note asking its employees to buy Sharp products.

The firm iterated that it was not mandatory for staff to buy Sharp electronics, but did confirm that it wanted its employees to choose the company’s products over alternatives provided by its competitors.

For those unfamiliar with Sharp’s struggles, the company has twice been bailed out by its lenders — in the last three years. Recently (as in the last few months), banks began applying pressure to the company to rid itself of its loss-making LCD business, and only a few weeks ago did Sharp finally send out an announcement that the company had begun negotiations to make such a deal.

In that same announcement, it was also detailed that Sharp’s operating profit fell by 86% in the September quarter (compared to a year ago); the LCD division, specifically, was responsible for $102M of the company’s losses. 

Making matters worse, this news came out after the company confirmed reported losses in the year to March, and that there would be job cuts too. 

A Sharp spokesman confirmed that the employee-purchase program was entirely voluntary, and that it was not yet decided if there would be any sort of special discount / incentive for staff buying these electronics.

Among the reason why Sharp has been struggling — it was forced to pull out of the North American television market due to stiff competition, and it the brand has underperformed against cheaper Chinese and Taiwanese rivals.

Via the BBC