Sharp’s century of innovation

The ¥389 billion ($3.5bn) takeover of Japanese electronics giant Sharp by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industries – better known as Foxconn – ends independence forthe 100-year-old company which started out making belt buckles and mechanical pencils

1915 Sharp’s founder Tokuji Hayakawa invents Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil, which is origin of company name

1925 Sharp makes history in assembling Japan’s very first crystal radio set. National broadcasts begin same year, ensuring success of product

1929 Sharp replaces crystal set – only one person can listen using headphones – with Dyne Vacuum-Tube Radio. Horn speaker allows groups to listen together

1953 Sharp’s Model TV3-14T debuts, Japan’s first television, priced at ¥175,000 ($1,500 in 2016 prices). TV transmissions are limited to 4 hours per day with just 866 viewing
households nationwide

1962 Sharp begins mass production of microwave ovens. R-10 oven introduces general public to concept of flameless cooking

1964 Sharp launches world’s first all transistor-diode electronic desktop calculator

1973 EL-805 pocket calculator is world’s first commercial product to use Liquid Crystal Display. Sharp forms LCD directly on glass circuit board onto which
other electronic components are mounted

2000 Sharp launches first camera-equipped mobile phone. 110,000-pixel J-SH04 allows users
to e-mail photos

2009 Sharp releases DL-L60AV LED lamp. Remote controller allows colour of light to be changed

2010 Sharp introduces 3D LCD TV which uses four-primary-colour LCDs – RGB plus yellow

2015 Sharp debuts AQUOS UH30 4K Ultra HD TV. Android TV with 80-inch (203cm) diagonal screen lets viewers play games, watch shows, and listen to music

Sources: Sharp Corporation, Vintage Calculators.com

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