TOKYO, Oct 22, 2007 (AFP) - Sharp Corp., the pioneer of LCD screens, warned Monday that it expected its net profit to slip in the first half of the business year on rising costs of its investments and raw materials.

But the Japanese company said it still expected sales to increase thanks to robust LCD sales and it did not revise its projections for a full-year rise in net profit.

Sharp projected net profit of 43 billion yen (375 million dollars) for the six months to September 30, down 7.6 percent from the same period the previous year.

TOKYO, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Sharp Corp. said Thursday it had agreed to become the top shareholder in its financially troubled rival Pioneer Corp. as part of a broad business tie-up in response to growing competition.

Sharp, which has seen four straight years of record profits thanks to fast-growing sales of flat-screen televisions, said it would take a stake of about 14 percent in Pioneer, which will take a 0.9 percent stake in Sharp.

But the heads of both companies said they were not contemplating a full merger in the future.

TOKYO, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Sharp Corp. announced Thursday that it had agreed to become the top shareholder in its financially troubled rival Pioneer Corp. as part of a broad business and capital tie-up.

Sharp said it would take a stake of about 14 percent in Pioneer as part of a cross-shareholding deal.

The two companies will collaborate in areas such as next generation DVD, car electronics and display screens.

Pioneer is trying to reverse a profit slump after being saddled with overcapacity in plasma display panel even as prices keep declining.

TOKYO, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Japan's Sharp Corp. said Wednesday it had developed a liquid crystal display television that is less than an inch thick.

The technology used in the prototype allows the company to cut the thickness of a 52-inch flat television to just two centimetres (0.79 inches) for the main display section, less than one quarter that of its current thinnest model.

It has a power consumption half that of existing Sharp models and a much better contrast ratio.

TOKYO, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. said Tuesday that it had filed a lawsuit against South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co. for alleged patent infringement in liquid crystal displays.

Sharp filed the suit in a US district court in the state of Texas on Monday, seeking unspecified damages and a ban of the sale of Samsung LCD modules in the US as well as televisions and mobile phones which use the technology.

TOKYO, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Sharp Corp. said Tuesday it would invest about 3.2 billion dollars in a huge new plant making liquid crystal display panels for large screen televisions -- a key battleground for electronics makers.

The pioneer of LCD screens aims to increase its competitive edge over rivals with the high-tech new plant, which it hopes will drive down costs.