MANILA, Philippines - Technology changes so fast that companies are forced to quickly adopt the latest innovation to their own products, or do something that’s even more difficult: initiate the innovations themselves.
For Sharp, the latter option has always been the way to go, abiding by its founder Tokuji Hayakawa’s belief that it is always better to create products that will be imitated, than imitate.
That’s why the company’s nearly a century of existence is dotted with historical “firsts,” and its spirit of innovation continues to propel the company at the top of the ranks of the big Japanese electronics brands.
Revolutionary LCD
Take, for example, the LCD TV revolution. You may have thought that all the manufacturers had done everything to maximize picture and color quality, but Sharp still managed to come up with something so simple yet so revolutionary.
To the standard three-color array of red-green-blue screen pixels, it added a fourth color, yellow. The result: the Quattron quad pixel technology, which enables Sharp LCD screens to project never-before-seen colors like sparkling golds, Caribbean blues and sunflower yellows.
This four-primary-color display faithfully renders more than a trillion hues, most of which were previously undetected by the bare human eye, such as the golden yellow color of brass instruments.
It also incorporates Sharp’s new UV2A photo alignment technology, which provides mega-contrast, high efficiency and high-speed response. The Quattron LCDs are available in 52-, 46-, and 40-inch sizes.
Unique health tech
There are more Sharp’s advances in other product lines, such as the technology with a big impact on one’s health: Plasmacluster Ion technology.
This technology uses positive and negative ions to inactivate harmful airborne substances like molds, viruses and bacteria. It releases 25,000 ions within a one-cubic centimeter space to remove 99 percent of air impurities, even the dreaded A(H1N1) and bird flu viruses.
Sharp has installed this air-sanitizing technology in its advanced lines of split-type air-cons, no-frost refrigerators, and air purifiers.
Solar energy breakthroughs
Just as Sharp is intensively involved in developing technologies for its appliances, it is just as involved in creating power for them, as well as saving energy consumption.
Company founder Hayakawa dreamed of one day being able to produce the electricity consumed by his products, which is why for nearly half a century Sharp has been investing heavily in photovoltaic technology.
From the world’s first solar-powered calculator to solar-powered residential and commercial applications, Sharp solar panels provide clean and limitless power to homes and businesses, supplying modules for 25 percent of all solar panel systems installed globally.
In 2007, it achieved a world first — a cumulative total of two gigawatts of solar power production. Sharp’s newest production plant in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture in Japan will further boost Sharp’s annual capacity by up to one gigawatt.
At the same time, Sharp continues its advances in LED lighting technology, which is touted as the next-generation lighting source.
A single LED bulb has the potential to save vast amounts of energy due to its long life, lasting as much as 40,000 hours or the equivalent of around 40 ordinary bulbs.
While a typical bulb consumes about 60 watts, the LED bulb consumes just 7.6 watts and emits a cool ambiance because it has less infrared rays and less UV rays, and no mercury content.
This means that LED lamps can bring in around 80 percent energy savings, which is impressive considering that the average cost of electricity in the Philippines happens to be 30 percent more expensive than in most countries in Southeast Asia.
Sharp has manufactured over 2.5 million LED lamps in Japan and has ambitious plans of rolling the technology out to more urban centers around the world.
The company’s Sakai factory alone has already 100,000 energy-efficient lighting fixtures, contributing to the reduction of about 17,750 tons of carbon dioxide every year.
Strong after-sales commitment
One would be pleased to know that, among the giant electronics brands out there, Sharp happens to be the most committed to delighting customers who buy its products.
It has a network of 191 branches and service centers, one of the biggest in the industry, and one of the fastest response times of 12 hours for service requests (under certain conditions). It also has same-day repair and offers service units when needed.
Sharp is the only consumer appliance brand so far that has been given the Gold Seal of Excellence by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). It has also received the Consumer Welfare Champion and Cream of the Crop awards.
Moreover, Sharp has DTI-accredited Consumer Welfare Desks, a venue for resolving issues and complaints while taking full consideration of consumer rights.