Sharp Corp. has reportedly entered talks with Lenovo Group over selling its TV assembly plant in China. Sharp dramatically needs money to survive, whereas Lenovo is expected to accelerate push into the consumer market with its smartphones, tablets and TV-sets. So far, Sharp has not finished similar negotiations with Foxconn Technology Group.

Sharp started talks with Lenovo Group after discussions with Foxconn over the plant in Nanking, China, did not go as expected, or even stalled. As a result, Sharp may now sell the TV assembly plant to Lenovo Group, which is accelerating its efforts to expand its presence on the rapidly growing consumer electronics market in China. Given Lenovo’s current focus on making TVs for the domestic market, the company may be more inclined to buy the plant than Foxconn. The latter may only buy the TV assembly plant in Mexico, reports Reuters news-agency.

The consumer electronics giant in November said it may not be able to survive on its own after it doubled its full-year net loss to $5.6 billion. To pay short-term loans and hold off nonpayment in October it secured $4.4 billion bailout from its banks. In addition, Qualcomm invested $120 million into Sharp last year.

Sharp, Lenovo and Foxconn did not comment on the news-story.

Tags: Sharp, Lenovo, Foxconn, Qualcomm, Business, HDTV, TV