Print.IT - issue 49

32 PRINT.IT 01732 759725 BUSINESS SOLUTIONS Sharp’s new slogan, Be Original, might be an ironic choice for a copier company. Not that Sharp would see itself in such terms. In fact, even its Business Solutions Group, which derives 90% of its revenue from MFPs, could hardly be described as a copier business. Today, MFPs are just one component, along with displays, digital signage, videoconferencing systems, document management software, managed IT services, cloud services, AI-based digital assistants and even watercoolers that the company and its resellers fit together in fully integrated solutions to meet customers’ ‘smart office’ needs. Sharp Inspire 2018, held in Edinburgh on January 15-18, gave Sharp the opportunity to demonstrate the full range of its capabilities – much improved since Foxconn’s $3.8 billion take- over of the company in August 2016 – and alert dealers and their customers to the new products and technologies it has in the pipeline. The timing of the event could not have been better, coming off the back of Sharp’s fifth consecutive quarter of net profit and just weeks after the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) reinstated Sharp stock to the first section, having demoted it to the second in 2016. Jeff Ashida, president of Sharp Electronics Europe, was particularly pleased with this development, telling PrintIT that Sharp Corporation’s reinstatement was not just a technical consideration, but of great significance to the future competitiveness of the company. “Seeing Sharp stock downgraded from the first section to second section on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the middle of 2016 was a great disappointment. There is a big difference between section one and section two in terms of corporate credibility and reputation and that affects things like human resources. People like to join a first section company,” he said. A return to profitability in 2017, based on sales growth of 22%, ensured that Sharp Corporation’s return to the top rank was achieved in record time, after just one year and four months in TSE’s second section. Mr Ashida attributes Sharp’s rapid recovery over the last 18 months to a combination of cost- cutting and structural reform and access to Foxconn’s technological, manufacturing and procurement capabilities, as well as its huge network of technology companies and alliances, which has given Sharp greater presence in the growth markets of China and Asia. He adds that Sharp has also benefited from a change in culture. “The Foxconn culture is very aggressive, hungry, speedy, agile. Japanese companies don’t have that culture. We might have had it 30, 40, 50 years ago, but on the whole Japanese companies have become mature, if not complacent. A big benefit of Foxconn’s investment is that we are exposed to that aggressive, hungry, energetic, ambitious culture – quick, quick, quick. That brings another dimension,” he said. The effects are evident in Sharp Corporation’s plans for 2018 and beyond, notably a rapid expansion of its consumer products portfolio, including re- entry into the smartphone market, further development of its LCD TV business and a move back into Sharp-branded white goods. As Mr Ashida put it: “The recovery phase is over, and we are now on the next phase of acceleration.” For smart get Sharp Sharp returned to profitability in 2017, boosted by sales growth of 22% A resurgent Sharp is positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for the smart office. James Goulding reports