Sharp today announced the opening of its newly-established home appliances research and development (R&D) center in Shenzhen, China on January 19, 2017.

The new R&D center will serve as a base for the development of home appliances, particularly white goods and audio-visual products, tailored to the needs of customers in China and ASEAN region.

This move is being carried out as part of the company's new management system established in August 2016, when Sharp introduced and implemented its "One SHARP" policy to reinforce its overall strength and capabilities through greater collaboration across its businesses. Sharp is implementing initiatives, including measures to maximize synergy by enhancing cooperation among its businesses, to improve management and operational efficiency by effectively utilizing resources across its group of companies.

As part of the company's strategy to strengthen its position as a leading global brand, Sharp has restructured its R&D organization located at each of its facilities in Japan, including Yao, Yaita, Hiroshima, Tenri and Sakai. Under the new structure, Sharp will continue to focus its research and development efforts in Japan on strategic focus areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and product development to serve the Japanese market.

In addition, Sharp is accelerating programs aimed at expanding its global business and operations. Against this backdrop, Sharp is leveraging the potential of the China market - home to the world's largest population - and the rapidly-growing ASEAN region as key growth drivers in the company's international business development.

Under this strategy, Sharp established a subsidiary, Sharp Universal Technology (SZ) Co., Ltd. ("SUT"), in Shenzhen, China in December 2016 to coordinate the group's business in the country. The newly-established home appliance R&D center is situated within SUT and serves as a strategic base for Sharp's business development in China and the ASEAN region. Located adjacent to R&D facilities of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., the world's largest electronic manufacturing services provider, Sharp's new R&D center will also be able to tap Hon Hai's technological expertise and maximize the use of such resources.