Consumer Electronics company Sharp isn’t exactly known for selling PCs in the US, but the company does have a line of laptop and desktop computers which are available in Japan… for now. But the company has reportedly announced it will cease production of personal computers, instead focusing on other products… such as the upcoming Galapagos tablets.
There’s still no word on whether the Galapagos tablets, will be available in the US. They’re expected to launch in Japan in December. They’ll come in two varieties, a 5.5 inch version with a 1024 x 600 pixel display and a 10.8 inch model with a 1366 x 800 pixel screen. Both will run Google Android and have WiFi capabilities, so while Sharp is marketing them as eBook Readers, they should also be able to surf the web and run at least some third party apps.
It’s also not clear how Sharp’s announcement will affect its other portable products such as the 5 inch Android powered Sharp IS01 mobile internet device, or the Sharp Netwalker. It seems the Mebius laptop line, on the other hand, is probably not much longer for this world.
via Akihabara News
This makes sense. For quite a while, Sharp was one of the most innovative laptop makers. However, their laptops were really never that good, requiring just one or two too many extreme trade-offs to get a novel benefit. Their PC products have never been popular in America, and aren’t too popular elsewhere. If this were Samsung making this announcement, then you’d get all types of valid speculation about what this means in terms of PC markets and the future of computing. Instead, this is Sharp finally giving up, perhaps 10 years too late.