｜1912-｜1960-｜1980-｜1994-｜ Year History 1912-1914 Company founded 1915-1919 Invention of Ever-Sharp Pencil 1920-1924 Expanding sales of Ever-Sharp Pencils 1925-1930 First Japan-made radio 1931-1936 Opens overseas outlets 1937-1944 Demand for radios grows 1945-1952 End of WWII, company revival 1953-1954 First Japan-made TV 1955-1958 Strengthens manufacturing/sales organization 1959 Becomes full-range electronics manufacturer 1960-1961 Mass production of color TVs 1962 First overseas sales subsidiary established 1963 Mass production of solar cells 1964-1966 World's first electronic calculator 1967-1968 Regional plant development 1969-1970 From Senri to Tenri 1971-1972 Expansion into office products field 1973-1975 First practical application of LCDs 1976-1978 Moves to "New Lifestyle" products 1979 First overseas manufacturing base in an industrialized country 1980-1984 Becomes comprehensive OA manufacturer 1985 Making products that match individual lifestyles 1986 New management team starts 1987 Sharp -- the LCD specialists 1988-1989 Optoelectronics, the core technology 1990 New start as trillion-yen company 1991 Enhancing LCD business 1992 Marks 80 years of operations 1993 LCD ViewCam a huge hit, debut of Zaurus PDA 1994 Large-scale LCD plant in Mie 1995 New company buildings constructed 1996 Debut of Color Zaurus PDA 1997 Develops 4-region strategy 1998 Start of new management structure 1999 Creating demand for LCD TVs 2000 Mobile phone share increased 2001 Debut of AQUOS, the TV for the 21st century 2002 90th anniversary of Sharp's founding construction of Kameyama Plant 2003 Expanding production of System LCDs 2004 Integrated production of "Kameyama brand" large-screen LCD TVs 2005 Expanding solar cell production capacity 2006 Simultaneous worldwide introduction of AQUOS models from Kameyama Plant No. 2 2007 Mikio Katayama appointed President & COO, new organizational structure launched 2008 Aiming to become the world’s solar company