Sharp Corporation Totally Explained

Everything about Sharp Corporation totally explained

() is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, founded in 1912. It takes its name from one of its founder's first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa (早川徳次) in 1915. Since then it has developed into one of the leading electronics companies in the world. As a semiconductor maker, Sharp is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and among the Top 100 R&D Spenders in a list published by IEEE Spectrum magazine. It gained public awareness in the United Kingdom when it sponsored Manchester United F.C. from 1982 to 2000, which was a great period of success for the club.

Origins

It takes its name from one of its founder's first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa (早川徳次) in 1915. After the pencil business was destroyed by the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923, the company relocated to Osaka and started designing the first Japanese radio sets. These went on sale in 1925. In 1953 it started production of the first television sets in Japan. Other notable achievements include the world's first all-transistor desktop calculator in 1964 and the first LCD calculator in 1973. LCD technology continues to be a key part of Sharp's product range, in both the component and the consumer-appliance sides of the business.

Core technologies

Core technologies and products include: LCD panels,solar panels, mobile phones, audio-visual entertainment equipment, video projectors, photocopiers, microwave ovens, cash registers, CMOS and CCD sensors, and flash memory.
The first commercial camera phone was also made by Sharp for the Japanese market in November 2000. Recent products include the ViewCam, the Ultra-Lite notebook PC, the Zaurus personal digital assistant, Sidekick 3, and the AQUOS flat screen television.

Products

Laptop Computers

Sharp Actius line of laptop computers

Calculators

Humanoid Robot

In 2006 Sharp said it has developed a humanoid robot that clears dishes from the table and puts them into a dishwasher. The robot (measuring 95x50x45cm) opens the door of the dishwasher, takes hold of teacups, rice bowls and plates, places them in the unit and closes the door

Sales

Net sales for the year 2003/4 were $16.8 billion. The Corporation employs 46,600 staff, of which around half live outside Japan. It operates from 64 bases in 30 countries and its products are distributed in 164 countries worldwide. Many of its regional subsidiaries trade under the name "Sharp Electronics".
As a semiconductor maker, Sharp is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and among the Top 100 R&D Spenders in a list published by the IEEE Spectrum magazine.

Manchester United

Sharp was the principal sponsor of Manchester United Football Club from 1982 until 2000, in one of the lengthiest and most lucrative sponsorship deals in English football. Sharp's logo was on the front of United's shirts during these 17 years, during which the team won seven Premier League titles, five FA Cups, one Football League Cup, one European Cup Winners' Cup and one European Cup. As this period was something of a golden era for the club, with a (coincidental) decline in fortunes happening once Vodafone became the new shirt sponsors in 2000, some fans now term this period—particularly 1993–2000—as The Sharp Years.

Headquarters

22-22, Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan

1 Sharp Plaza Mahwah, New Jersey 07430, USA

Associated companies

LOEWE

Pioneer Corporation

Competitors

Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic)

Sony

JVC

Samsung

Thomson SA

Hewlett-Packard

Hitachi

Toshiba

Pioneer

Sanyo Electric

Mitsubishi Electric

Daikin

LG-Philips LCDFurther Information

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