Samsung Electronics Co , with a $110 million investment in cash-strapped Sharp Corp , will broaden its supplier base, gain access to low-power thin screen technology and get a foot in the door at one of Apple Inc's key Asian display suppliers. The relatively low-cost deal will leave Samsung with a 3 percent stake in Japan's TV pioneer, making it a leading foreign shareholder alongside chipmaker Qualcomm Inc , which in December agreed to invest as much as $120 million. Shares in Sharp, which was bailed out by its banks last October, jumped on news of the lifeline.It is also a rare cross-border technology deal between two rival countries and the first time the South Korean TV maker has taken a stake in a major Japanese rival. Japan's three big TV set makers, Sharp, Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp , are struggling to overcome losses as Samsung clobbers them in overseas markets.

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