This time Sharp is blaming weak demand from Chinese smartphone makers and it will book a net loss of $256 million this fiscal year through March compared with a previous forecast of a 30 billion net profit.

Rumours abounded that Sharp may need to reconsider its strategy including a possible sale of the display business.

But Sharp Executive Director Kazunori Houshi told reporters that it was "not considering the option" of selling the display business and that he believed the downturn in demand from Chinese smartphone makers would be temporary.

All this means is that Sharp will be a little more patent before it throws in any towel. Besides it might be a little difficult to sell the business at the moment.