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Case Study

Be Sharp! Sharp's innovation in the LCD industry

By Kazuo Ichijo

18 pages

June 2005

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Reference: IMD-3-1554

Sharp, established in 1912, has always tried to identify unique niches that its competitors do not enter, while at the same time continuing to pursue innovation and knowledge creation in those niches. The liquid crystal display (LCD) business is a typical example of Sharp’s strategy and innovation. Sharp developed the first successful LCD product–a pocket calculator with a small black and white LCD in 1973–and since then the company has released a series of unique products with LCDs, including PDAs and camcorders. In 1998, in the face of increasing competition in the traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) TV market, Katsuhiko Machida, the company’s new president, announced his vision of upgrading all bulky CRT televisions sold in the domestic market to flat screen LCD sets by 2005. This vision was bold, since Sharp was the first producer of color CRT TVs and its business was still profitable at the time. However, Machida predicted tough price competition in the CRT business in the future and began to mobilize Sharp’s employees to gain and sustain competitive advantage in the new market.

Keywords

Competitive Strategy, Knowledge Management, Consumer Electronics

Settings

Japan
1998 - 2004

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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