Company to develop multifunction software that will create seamless computing and imaging

OSAKA, JAPAN, Sept 2, 1999 - Sharp Corporation, a worldwide developer of innovative products and core technologies that play a role in shaping the future of electronics, has established Sharp Software Development India Pvt. Ltd. (SSDI), to focus on the development of software for digital copier / printers, in Bangalore, Karnataka.

The fastest moving trends in the field of imaging systems are digitalization, networking, and color, trends that Sharp needs to stay ahead of to strengthen its solutions business. Sharp Laboratories of America (SLA), the Camas, Wash.-based research and development arm, will put up all the capital for this new software company and hire personnel selected from India's wealth of superbly skilled software engineers. SSDI will work as part of a global software development system linking India, the U.S., and Japan.

Although the company will at first develop software solely for full-color digital copier/printers based on SLA's basic designs, in the future it will develop a wide range of software including IC system design and information system products.