The Sharp Corporation are specialists in LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) products, and manufacturer a wide range of LCD Televisions, audio systems, microwave ovens, and mobile phones for the home. In business it leads the way in LCD Commercial displays as well as electronic point of sale, calculators, printers, and projectors.
Sharp founded in 1912 by Tokuji Hayakawa, a young inventor who received his first patent at the age of just 18. He set up the company as a small metalworking business, and named it after the Ever-Sharp mechanical pencils it produced.
In 1925 the company began producing radios, expanding its product range further still after the Second World War with the production of the first Sharp television. In 1959 the company became recognised as a full-range electronics manufacturer, and began mass production of colour TV's. In 1966 it launched the world's first electronic LCD calculator, which took the world by storm. .
Today the company employs 56,800 staff, of whom nearly half are employed outside Japan. Sharp operates from 64 bases in 30 countries and its reputable state-of-the-art LCD technology products are distributed to 164 countries worldwide.
Furthermore, Sharp's Kameyama Factory in Japan is the most environmentally advanced manufacturing factory in the world. The company continues to innovate, and is carving a name for itself in area of solar power.