2011 marks 30 years of Sharp’s presence in the Philippines. Wow, have they really been here that long?
Come to think of it, Sharp has been a part of my growing up years. At some point of time in my life, we’ve had a Sharp television set, washing machine, and karaoke. Not to mention several Sharp calculators!
At a recent media event held at Makati Shangri-la, we were able to listen to several of Sharp’s Japanese executives, including Sharp (Phils.) Corp.’s President and GM, Mr. Juntaro Shimamoto, who took us through Sharp’s history in terms of electronic offerings as well as where they are going in the future.
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| Sharp products over the years |
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| Sharp Phils. executives |
Some stuff that I found very interesting during the event were Sharp’s ‘green’ endeavors built into their products. Their poly-crystalline silicon (PSC) solar panels are now in use at a Cepalco-operated farm in Cagayan, the first solar farm in the country. Appliances like their air purifiers, ion generators, airconditioners and refs are incorporated with Plasmacluster Ion Technology that suppresses harmful airborne elements to promote a clean, indoor environment.
This I like because our family always has allergic rhinitis attacks from dust and pollen and our home always has to have air purifiers and ionizers to help catch these.
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| Plasmacluster technology |
They’ll soon be introducing into the market the largest LCD TV (all 70 inches of it), the Quattron 735 series.
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| A sneak peek of the 70-inch LCD TV |
And an innovation to the washing machine is what they call the Eco Drum (or hole-less technology). The old technology where the drum had holes was flawed. It allowed black mold in the holes to contaminate and stain clothes. The new, hole-less drum prevents this from happening and comes with a wider tub so you can wash more clothes in one cycle.
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| Drew Arellano talks about the hole-less drum |
Sharp’s executives, throughout their presentations, kept mentioning “Koten”, their trademark marketing strategy. Koten, which means “individual exhibit” is a once a year convention where all Sharp’s products are introduced to the public in a fun and easy way, assisted by Sharp’s team. Families and individuals can walk around their exhibits and see the actual appliances, inspect them, and get further information from the staff. They said they have seen sales of 150% of monthly sales achieved in just 3 days using the Koten strategy.
What’s reassuring for many of us is the statement directly from Sharp’s top management that they are here to stay in the Philippines – through thick and thin.
