INTERVIEW: Sharp Aims to Expand White Goods Sales Abroad

Sakai, Osaka Pref., Dec. 23 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Sharp Corp. aims to increase the proportion of its home appliances sold overseas to nearly 70 pct in five years, to make up for a decline in domestic sales, President and CEO Masahiro Okitsu said in a recent interview. Okitsu said Sharp aims to strengthen its sales channels in regions with high potential for home appliance adoption, such as Asia and the Middle East, to offset a decline in domestic white goods sales. “We will offer products that customers will want when they need to replace (their home appliances) with more luxurious ones,” he said. Currently, Sharp’s domestic sales account for 45 pct of its total home appliance sales. “I don’t think the domestic market will expand in the future,” Okitsu said. He said the company will aim to have the Japanese market account for a third of its home appliance sales, the Asian market another third and the United States, Africa and the Middle East the remaining third. Sharp will aim to expand sales channels for business-use appliances, which are highly profitable, both domestically and internationally. It plans to differentiate its products from those of Chinese manufacturers that are expanding their market shares through low pricing. Specifically, Sharp plans to launch high-performance products, such as bread-baking machines for convenience stores, with a focus on the markets in Indonesia, Egypt and the United States. On Sharp’s LDK+ electric vehicle, which is being developed with its Taiwanese parent company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Okitsu said that his company will consider whether to commercialize the model next year. He also expressed the desire to manufacture the components handled by Sharp domestically. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]