Another Sharp business vision is “Contribute to a ubiquitous society with one-of-a-kind LCDs.” Sharp will raise the standards of culture and living for people around the world through its business.

The dizzying pace of advancement in telecommunications infrastructure and networks is giving people access to information from around the world through television and the Internet and creating a borderless information society.

It is said that of our five senses, sight is the one that gives us more than 85% of our information. In an advanced information society, displays are at the core of almost everywhere we look. They contribute to an improved standard of culture and living as windows to information. Today, displays are indispensable to making our lives fulfilling.

In 1931, eighty years ago, a time when radios were beginning to spread, Sharp embarked on research into the new medium of television. In 1951 Sharp created a successful prototype of Japan’s first TV. In January 1953, just ahead of the start of television broadcasts in Japan, Sharp began mass producing TVs to open the curtain on the new era of television.

In 1973, Sharp introduced a pocket calculator, the first-ever product to incorporate an LCD screen, after which Sharp devoted itself to progress in advancing this new display medium. In 1998, when CRTs were the dominant screen type, Sharp declared that by 2005, it would phase out CRTs and sell only LCD TVs in Japan.

In 2001, the AQUOS LCD TV was born as the world entered the 21st century. In the 10 years since, through AQUOS, as well as through innovations such as increasing screen resolution and screen size, Sharp has brought customers new image experiences and lifestyles.

The word AQUOS is a combination of “aqua” and “quality.” Sharp’s aim from the very start was to make AQUOS a fusion of performance, quality, and environmental consideration—characteristics ideal for the 21st century on Earth, the water planet—and allow as many people as possible to enjoy TV while lessening their impact on the environment at home.

But Sharp’s role has not been only to make LCDs. Together with suppliers and other business partners, and with all its stakeholders, Sharp has made LCDs an engine of growth in the world of electronics, in the process making these displays into a major segment that contributes to industry as a whole.

*

The term “ubiquitous society” refers to how the whole of society will be connected through the rapid development of IT infrastructure and networks will always be accessible to users.

A ‘ubiquitous society’ is one in which the lives of people around the world are made more fulfilling, since anyone can connect to a network for access to a range of services anytime and anywhere.

One of Sharp’s business visions is to use the one-of-a-kind LCDs it has built up to realize a ubiquitous society in which displays make society better in numerous ways.

For example, displays could offer effective teaching methods to solve the problem of the falling levels of education among children today. Or they could help improve the field of medicine by providing remote medical care to solve the problem of shortages of doctors in this age of falling birthrates and aging populations. Sharp is also aiming to contribute widely to society by developing lifestyle support services that can be used by anyone, anywhere, anytime. One such example is a home control system; with today’s increasing awareness of the environment and energy conservation, people at home need to know how much electricity they are consuming and how much energy they are generating through their solar power generation systems.

Sharp’s mission is to continue to achieve breakthroughs in LCD image and energy-saving technologies that lead to new products that go beyond TVs—products like digital signage, mobile devices and tablets, and electronic whiteboard systems—and that offer never-before-seen value and raise the level of culture and lifestyles for the world’s people.

India has enjoyed extremely rapid economic growth in recent years, and this has led to a rapidly increasing demand for higher education. A shortage of schools and teachers accompanying this demand has become a serious problem. To resolve these challenges, the development and adoption of electronic systems for education, as well as implementing remote e-education based on them, is urgently needed in India.

Sharp participated in a proof-of-concept trial for electronic education (e-education) in March 2011 at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad to be conducted under the Project for International Expansion of Advanced ICT Business (Ubiquitous Alliance Project) launched by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan.

In the proof-of-concept trial, the content of textbooks used in courses, as well as curriculum information, was downloaded to the e-textbook terminals via a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection to a dedicated remote e-education server. In addition, the content shown on electronic whiteboards used during class was displayed on the e-textbook terminals. This enabled interactive classes to be conducted, using a microphone and speakers in classrooms where no teacher was present.

This system aims to enable students who are not able to take courses because of a lack of teachers to attend advanced classes.

It was 38 years ago that Sharp introduced a pocket calculator that was the first calculator in the world to incorporate an LCD screen. Since then, Sharp has overcome numerous obstacles to create new possibilities for LCDs, with products boasting color display, a wide viewing angle, high-speed refresh rate, and large screens.

Today, Sharp is on the verge of taking LCDs to whole new fields by building on its innovations over the years.

From ultra-large displays that cover entire walls, to small- and medium-size displays for smartphones and tablets, Sharp is widening the range of applications for LCDs, and we are helping realize information and services via cloud computing, in the process making people’s lives better than ever. Sharp will continue to pursue its business vision of contributing to society by offering new value that is unique to Sharp.