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| sarp , syharp , sharpp , shsrp , shsarp |
SharpSharp Corporation 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 in 1915 .
After the pencil business was destroyed by the Great Kanto 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.
The first commercial cameraphone was also made by Sharp for the Japanese market in November 2000.
Sharp's logo became iconic between 1982 and 2000 when English football club Manchester United displayed it on their shirts as part of a sponsorship deal. Because much of these 18 years were 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 1993-1999, as The Sharp Years.
Core technologies and products include: solar panels, mobile phones, audio-visual entertainment equipment, LCD panels, projectors, photocopiers, microwave ovens, cash registers, CMOS and CCD sensors, and flash memory.
Recent products include the ViewCam, the Ultra-Lite notebook PC, the Zaurus personal digital assistant, Sidekick 3, and the Aquos flat screen television.
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.
Timeline
1912-1914 Company founded
1915-1919 Invention of Ever-Sharp Pencil
1920-1924 Expanding sales of Ever-Sharp Pencils
1925-1930 First Japan-made radio
1931-1936 Opens overseas outlets
1937-1944 Demand for radios grows
1945-1952 End of WWII, company revival
1953-1954 First Japan-made TV
1955-1958 Strengthens manufacturing/sales organization
1959 Becomes full-range electronics manufacturer
1960-1961 Mass production of color TVs
1962 First overseas sales subsidiary established
1963 Mass production of solar cells
1964-1966 World's first electronic calculator
1967-1968 Regional plant development
1969-1970 From Senri to Tenri
1971-1972 Expansion into office products field
1973-1975 First practical application of LCDs
1976-1978 Moves to "New Lifestyle" products
1979 First overseas manufacturing base in an industrialized country
1980-1984 Becomes comprehensive OA manufacturer
1985 Making products that match individual lifestyles
1986 New management team starts
1987 Sharp -- the LCD specialists
1988-1989 Optoelectronics, the core technology
1990 New start as trillion-yen company
1991 Enhancing LCD business
1992 Marks 80 years of operations
1993 LCD ViewCam a huge hit, debut of Zaurus PDA
1994 Large-scale LCD plant in Mie
1995 New company buildings constructed
1996 Debut of Color Zaurus PDA
1997 Develops 4-region strategy
1998 Start of new management structure
1999 Creating demand for LCD TVs
2000 Mobile phone share increased
2001 Debut of AQUOS, the TV for the 21st century
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