Prices of Sharp brand mainstream TVs sold in the U.S. have risen since Hisense's takeover and the claims of quality problems are just excuses, Hisense said in response to Sharp Corp's accusation, according to the report of Nikkei on Monday.
The comment came after Sharp Corp sued China's Hisense Electric Co in the U.S., claiming that the latter is tarnishing Sharp's brand by selling poor-quality TVs in the U.S. and deceptively advertising them, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
In a complaint filed in a California state court, Sharp lawyers said that the Japanese company's brand and trademark "are at risk of being destroyed" by the time the five-year term of the Hisense agreement expires, according to the report.
Sharp is demanding that Hisense stop using the Sharp brand and pay compensation of at least $100 million, the Chinese-language version of the Japanese business publication Nikkei said on Monday.
"Sharp Corp under Taiwan's Foxconn is returning Hisense's kindness with ingratitude," said Zhu Dan, vice president of Hisense International, according to the Nikkei report.
In 2015, Sharp was going through financial problems with serious losses in its North American market, and the company visited Hisense several times to seek help, Zhu told Nikkei.
Under these conditions, Hisense decided to help Sharp by taking over its plant in Mexico and its brand sales in North America from January 2016 to January 2021, Zhu noted.
In 2016, Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, took a controlling stake in Sharp for 388.8 billion yen ($3.52 billion), and Foxconn has sought to put the Japanese company back on a growth track, the Wall Street Journal report noted.
"Foxconn has undertaken destructive activities to force Hisense to give the Sharp brand back," Zhu said.
Hisense will actively respond to the lawsuit while complying with the brand-licensing contract between the two sides, and it will continue to produce and sell Sharp brand TVs in the U.S., according to Zhu.
