[January 07, 2013] Sharp to shift to customer-oriented business model Tweet (Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) OSAKA, Jan. 7 -- (Kyodo) _ Major electronics maker Sharp Corp. plans to shift to a customer-oriented business model this year in an effort to recover from its business crisis, its President Takashi Okuda told reporters Monday. Three in-house companies will be created in April to serve individual, corporate and manufacturing customers within the business model, he said. Okuda apologized for leading his company into an unprecedented business crisis that saw it incur heavy losses last year and vowed to trigger a recovery this year. He indicated he is confident that Sharp will achieve an operating profit in the six months to March 2013 that will enable it to receive additional financial support from major banks. "Our operating profit in the October-December quarter exceeded its projected level." Okura also said he urged Terry Gou, chairman of Sharp's Taiwanese business partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., in a recent letter to take a step forward in their negotiations on a capital alliance. He indicated his ambition to reach an agreement on the capital alliance by the end of March. (c) 2013 Kyodo News International, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]