Tim Culpan, Columnist

Sharp's Japan Play Doesn't Bode Well for Wisconsin

The U.S. state increasingly looks like being squeezed out by Foxconn adding capacity elsewhere.

Breaking ground or getting buried?

Photographer: Yichuan Cao/Nur Photo/Getty

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Sharp Corp. buying all or parts of Japan Display Inc. could bring more bad news for Wisconsin's hopes of hosting a world-class display factory.

That’s because Osaka-based Sharp is actually owned by Foxconn Technology Group, the Taiwanese iPhone assembler that at one point said it would invest $10 billion to build a leading-edge 10.5-generation liquid crystal display plant in the U.S. state, a battleground that is key to President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign.