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[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 37.9 ms ] thread
Url changed from http://www.cio.com/article/3024927/foxconn-said-to-bid-over-..., which derives from this.
Thanks for the reference to the original article. The article at WSJ is walled so there isn't much to see there.
Click the "web" link under the title and it'll show you a way to bypass the paywall.
Thanks; didn't know it was Sharp who invented the 'Propelling pencils'; that's not what they are known for here :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_pencil

> Between 1822 and 1874, more than 160 patents were registered pertaining to a variety of improvements to mechanical pencils. The first spring-loaded mechanical pencil was patented in 1877 and a twist-feed mechanism was developed in 1895. The 0.9 mm lead was introduced in 1938,[citation needed] and later it was followed by 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 sizes. Eventually, 1.3 and 1.4 mm mechanisms were available, and 0.4 and 0.2 versions are now produced.

> The mechanical pencil became successful in Japan with some improvements in 1915 by Tokuji Hayakawa, a metal worker who had just finished his apprenticeship. It was introduced as the "Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil". Success was not immediate, since the metal shaft—essential for the pencil's long life—was unfamiliar to users. However, the Ever-Ready Sharp began selling in huge numbers after a company from Tokyo and Osaka made large orders.[9][10] Later, Tokuji Hayakawa's company got its name from that pencil: Sharp.[9]

Foxconn will be most likely walled out of this deal, like the average user gets walled by the wsj... Also news is a few days old already. INCJ already bidding for Toshiba white goods, which they want to fuse with Sharp's white goods division.
I am extremely skeptics about keeping the same management in Sharp...