Native name
|
シャープ株式会社 |
---|---|
Public subsidiary Kabushiki-kaisha |
|
Traded as | : Osaka SE: 6753 : 6753 |
Industry | Consumer electronics |
Founded | September 15, 1912 Tokyo, Japan |
Founder | Tokuji Hayakawa |
Headquarters | Sakai-ku, Sakai, Japan |
Area served
|
Japan, Worldwide Global |
Key people
|
Jeng-wu Tai (President) |
Products | Televisions, audiovisual, home appliances, information equipments, ICs, solar cells, mobile phones, fax machines, electronic components, calculators, LCD panels |
Revenue |
¥2.927 trillion (2014) US$28.7 billion |
¥108.6 billion (2014) US$1.06 billion |
|
¥11.5 billion (2014) US$0.11 billion |
|
Total assets |
¥2.182 trillion (2014) US$21.39 billion |
Total equity |
¥207.2 billion (2013) US$2.03 billion |
Number of employees
|
50,253 (2014) |
Parent | Foxconn (2016–present) |
Website | www |
Sharp Corporation (シャープ株式会社 Shāpu Kabushiki-gaisha?) is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products, headquartered in Sakai-ku, Sakai. Since 2016 it has been an integral part of Taiwan-based Foxconn Group. Sharp employs more than 50,000 people worldwide. The company was founded in September 1912 in Tokyo and takes its name from one of its founder’s first inventions, the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil, which was invented by Tokuji Hayakawa in 1915.
As of 2013, Sharp Corporation is the tenth-largest, by market share, television manufacturer in the world. In Japan it has been a long-time leader. Sharp has at times also been the most popular mobile phone brand in the Japanese market, but is currently third biggest.
In 1912, Tokuji Hayakawa founded a metal workshop in Tokyo. The first of his many inventions was a snap buckle named ‘Tokubijo’. Another of his inventions was the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencil in 1915, from which the Sharp Corporation derived its name. After the pencil business was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, the company relocated to Osaka and began designing the first generation of Japanese radio sets. These went on sale in 1925. In 1953, Sharp started producing TV sets.
In 1964, Sharp developed the world’s first transistor calculator, which was priced at JP¥535,000 (US$1,400). It took Sharp several years to develop the product as they had no experience in making computing devices at the time. Two years later, in 1966, Sharp introduced its first IC calculator using 145 Mitsubishi-made bipolar ICs, priced at JP¥350,000 (about US$1000). Its first LSI calculator was introduced in 1969. This was the first pocketable calculator priced at less than JP¥100,000 (less than US$300), and turned out to be a popular item.