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Mr Tajima, please tell us how Sharp sees the European LCD market at this point in time...
The LCD TV boom has only just begun and I believe Europe is a market which is only just awaking. This is why we are concentrating on Europe as the LCD TV market of the future. Our decision to be the first company in the world to concentrate solely on LCD TVs caused a few sniggers at the time, yet we are now one of the most successful LCD companies in the world. We set new standards with large screen diagonals, HD panels with 100 Hz technology and contemporary design. In Blu-ray technology we also offer the ideal partner for the complete Full-HD experience.
A major news item this year has been the official opening of the SMPL (Crystal Park) plant in Poland, where Sharp produces LCD modules and TVs. Why is this so important?
For 2007, we expect LCD TV demand to reach 27 million units in Europe. With the factory in Torun we want, on the one hand, to be able to better meet the high demand for LCD TVs in Western Europe while reducing the time to market. On the other hand, we are deliberately investing in Eastern Europe with this factory, since countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary or Slovakia belong to the fast growing European LCD TV markets which will gain more and more importance in the future.
In the latest major revelation, Sharp has just announced the upcoming construction of the world’s first tenth-generation LCD plant and the world’s largest solar cell plant in Japan. This is big news!
Yes, we wanted to combine both technology areas to set up an “industrial park for the 21st century.
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The glass coating technology applied here is the same for both, the production of LCD panels as well as the production of thin-film solar cells. In addition to production advantages resulting from the combined utilisation of materials and machines, synergy effects occur from which both, the production of thin-film solar cells and the production of LCD panels, will benefit. Besides the two state-of-the-art plants, the 1.27 million square-metre industrial park will have room for suppliers supporting the entire production process as well as further infrastructure; providing a time and cost advantage.
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Furthermore, CO2 emission will be avoided due to the vertically integrated method of production. With this, Sharp not only emphasises its innovation leadership but also supports its claim to be an environmentally friendly company.
Just how important is Europe in Sharp’s global plan?
Europe is one of the major foreign markets for our company worldwide. In the past fiscal year we achieved a 14 per cent increase in European sales. My goal is to further push this growth in the two-digit range in the next few years. Sharp sees Europe as the market of the future!
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© Photo: Sharp
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By focusing our activities on the profitable European key markets of Solar Systems, Document Solutions and LCD TV, we have almost doubled sales on the continent within the past three fiscal years. With sales amounting to 3.4 billion euros and operating profits reaching 52.8 million euros in fiscal 2006, business here in Europe accounts for 33 per cent of Sharp’s total business outside Japan.
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