Sharp 2012 Annual Report Download - page 13

Annual Report 2012 11
新オンリーワン戦略
簡単・便利な家電商品 医療分野への応用
日 用 品 のイン テリジェン ス 化
掃除機
「プラズマクラスター」
技術搭載掃除機
3次元・高精細デジタルミラー、電子教科書、
デジタル文具（ノート・手帳）など
COCOROBO
健康・環境商品
安心・安全 ロボット家電
カテゴリーシフトによる「新・必需品」の創出 新たな需要の創造
コモディティ
カ テ ゴ リ ー シ フト
オンリーワン
新・必 需 品
画像診断モニターなど
New One-of-a-Kind Strategy
Simple and convenient
home appliances
For application in the medical care field
High-tech daily commodities
Vacuum cleaner
Plasmacluster
Ion vacuum cleaner
3D high-definition digital mirrors,
electronic textbooks, digital stationery
(notebooks and schedule books), etc.
Robotic home
appliance
Health and environmental
products
Comfortable and reassuring
home appliances
Create “New Essential Products” through a Shift in Categories Generate New Demand
Commoditized
products
Shift in category
One-of-a-kind
products
New
essential
products
Medical diagnostic imaging monitors, etc.
Interview with the President
First of all, I will explain the meaning of “new essential
products” in the context of home appliances.
Let’s cite the example of the vacuum cleaner, which
was meant to be a “simple and convenient” appliance.
Responding to growing awareness about people’s
health and the environment, we incorporated our
Plasmacluster Ion technology for purifying air into our
vacuum cleaners, thus elevating them to a new cat-
egory of “health and environmental products.”
Our vacuum cleaners continued to make progress
in becoming robotic home appliances, which take over
housekeeping tasks, offering comfort and reassurance
amid a rise in the number of households consisting of
singles, working couples and the elderly.
In lighting, as well, in response to the growing em-
phasis on saving energy, we have started selling the
industry’s first LED ceiling light. In order to meet the
demand for home appliances that are health conscious
and environmentally friendly, we hope to develop ceiling
lights incorporating our Plasmacluster Ion technology.
Going forward, we plan to implement a further “shift in
categories” in home appliances by deploying our proprie-
tary technologies. In this way, we will offer “new essential
products” that people realize they always wanted.
Can you explain your “new one-of-a-kind strategy?”
By deploying our proprietary technologies, we will develop products and devices
in new categories, such as robotic home appliances, for example. We will use this
strategy to tap new markets by creating new applications and providing levels of
value unseen in the past.
Q
A
Now, I will introduce an example of efforts we’re
making in new markets outside of home appliances.
Our IGZO LCDs offer three key features: high-defi-
nition, low power consumption and high-performance
touchscreen capability. IGZO LCDs can be expected to
not only find applications as an extension of conven-
tional LCDs in consumer and office-use equipment,
but also generate new demand in other fields, such as
medical equipment.
IGZO LCDs enable medical diagnostic imaging
monitors to display realistic images by applying a multi-
primary color technology cultivated in AQUOS LCD TVs.
By also combining IGZO LCDs with camera mod-
ules, another Sharp strength, we can realize a digital
mirror that allows users to see themselves in 3D high-
definition quality.
By advancing our “new one-of-a-kind strategy” of
creating new applications and providing levels of value
unseen in the past, we intend to cultivate new markets
and generate new demand.