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Sharp New Zealand: Bringing Japanese ingenuity to Kiwi homes and businesses

Our beginnings

Sharp New Zealand started in 1968 but didn't become a wholly-owned subsidiary until 1988. By 2002, our headquarters were set up in custom-built offices in Penrose where we still operate today.

Jan Nicol-Winitana joined the team as our Managing Director, having come from an already knowledge-rich technology leadership background. Jan has brought a hands-on leadership style to the team and has led the charge towards growth, customer satisfaction, and a positive team atmosphere.

Our technology

Understanding that Sharp's historical brand recognition deserved to be continued with modern users in mind, Sharp's management has introduced state-of-the-art hardware and software to our customers, either through creation or curation. Some products are created by our manufacturing and technology teams, and others have been curated through partnerships with business partners—all to ensure we can give our clients the breadth of technology that they need.

Who we are

Although Sharp's global creed is "Sincerity and Creativity", Sharp New Zealand has its own set of values that were formed through working as a team to understand what truly matters to us and our customers. We have made four promises.

These are:

Care wholeheartedly

We have big hearts, and they are full of our love for our clients, the planet, our people, our partners, our products, and our brand.

Innovate disruptively

If you always do what you’ve done, you’ll always get what you always got. We think innovation and creativity can change the world.

Collaborate deliberately

It takes a village, right? We work together with ourselves and other industry leaders so that we can achieve things we could never have done by ourselves.

Be a trusted brand

Can a company be a friend? We’d like to think so. We love our clients, and we work to be a company that they can trust.

Sharp's History of Greatness

In 1912, founder, Tokuji Hayakawa, was awarded a patent for the "Tokubijo" snap buckle (he was 18 years old at the time). On September 15, the same year, he established a small metalworking shop in Tokyo. The company began with three employees and an initial capital of just under 50 yen.

In 1915, Mr. Hayakawa continued to research and improve techniques to manufacture a metal writing instrument which, at the time, had not yet been developed. In 1915, he invented a mechanical pencil named the "Ever-Sharp Pencil" that took the world by storm. The name of the company today and its trademark are derived from this product.

Since then, based on our founder Tokuji Hayakawa's dream to "Make products that other companies want to imitate", Sharp has gone from strength to strength with our technologically-advanced 'one-of-a-kind' products.

Sharp has a long history of creating breakthrough products designed to meet the needs of people living in New Zealand and around the world. Sharp’s world-wide leadership in technology innovations; especially in LCD and Solar, ensures Sharp is at the forefront of the pack.

Today, Sharp products are sold in 140 countries. There are 27 manufacturing operations, 29 sales companies, and two representative offices in 26 countries.

As the sun rises on Sharp's second century, the company will continue doing what is both its mission and its joy: provide products and technologies that help make society a better place. Join us as we take Sharp to even more people and places.

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