Sharp Corporate Information

Background
The Sharp Corporation was founded in 1912 by Tokuji Hayakawa
and takes its name from one of our founder's first inventions, the
Ever Sharp propein! pen"i, deveoped in 191#$
Sharp has "ontinued this "reative tradition, deveopin!
te"hnoo!i"ay innovative produ"ts to enhan"e our ives, add to our
"omfort, broaden our perspe"tives and boost our produ"tivity$
Sharp is re"o!ni%ed for its pioneerin! resear"h into &i'uid Crysta
(ispay )&C(* te"hnoo!y$ Sharp introdu"ed the first &C( ee"troni"
"a"uator ba"k in 19+,$
Sin"e then, it has "ontinued to deveop revoutionary &C( produ"ts
su"h as the -iewCam, .tra/&ite notebook p" and tou"h/s"reen
persona or!ani%ers$
0erhaps the best iustration of the impa"t of i'uid "rysta dispay
te"hnoo!y on produ"t deveopment is with the simpe "a"uator$
Sharp introdu"ed the word's first a/transistor desktop "a"uator in
1912$ 3y 19+9, just 1# years ater, Sharp announ"ed the word's first
super/thin )1$1mm* "ard si%ed "a"uator$
Today, Sharp eads the way in &C( and is a wordwide deveoper of
"ore te"hnoo!ies that wi pay an inte!ra roe in the deveopment of
di!ita te"hnoo!y su"h as optoee"troni"s, infrared, semi"ondu"tors
and fash memory$
Facts and Figures
Sharp dedi"ates its tota resour"es to the deveopment and
manufa"ture of ee"troni" e'uipment$ 4t "an "aim one of the widest
ran!es of business and ifestye produ"t portfoios under a sin!e
brand name in the word$
The Corporation empoys 11,+55 staff, of whi"h neary haf are
empoyed outside 6apan$ 4t operates from 12 bases in ,5 "ountries
and its produ"ts are distributed to 112 "ountries wordwide$
Research and Development
Sharp's "ontinued su""ess resuts dire"ty from the emphasis it
pa"es on resear"h and deveopment$ The "orporation dedi"ates
157 of its !ross profit and empoys 8,255 resear"hers in the effort to
desi!n produ"ts that wi enhan"e our eisure and workin! ives both
now and we into the 21st "entury$
Compementin! the resear"h fa"iities in 6apan and the .S9, Sharp
&aboratories of Europe )S&E* is based on the :;ford S"ien"e 0ark
empoyin! around 15 s"ientists$ S&E "ontributes to the Corporation's
"ore te"hnoo!ies su"h as &C(, ,( ima!in! dispays and
optoee"troni"s$
Environment
&ookin! towards future produ"t deveopment, Sharp Corporation is
whoy "ommitted to prote"tin! the environment and "onservin!
ener!y$
:ur !oa is to minimi%e the environmenta impa"t of our produ"ts by
"ontinuay impementin! and improvin! produ"t te"hnoo!ies,
desi!ns and pro!rams aimed at "onservation$
This is a"hieved by evauatin! ea"h step of the produ"t ife "y"e,
from the materias used in the manufa"ture and pa"ka!in! of our
produ"ts, to the amount of ener!y the produ"ts "onsume and the
manner in whi"h they may be re"y"ed and eventuay disposed of$