Sharp Electronics Corp wants to be a leader in mobile computing, but there’s no need for Toshiba Corp or IBM Corp to start shaking in their shoes. Sharp’s goal is to be number six in the US notebooks market, not a difficult feat considering it’s already in the number seven spot according to IDC Corp. It seems Mahwah, New Jersey-based Sharp has a different definition of the word leader, and it also has a different interpretation of what a notebook computer should include. It’s new WideNote, named for its wide screen, has the usual specifications, a 133MHz Intel Pentium chip with 1.1Gb hard drive and from 16Mb RAM (CI No 3,000). As the name suggests, it’s main selling point is its wide 9.6 by 5.6 display, which enables users to split their screen between two applications or web pages or include a box for video. But what WideNote doesn’t have is also notable; no CD-ROM drive, no floppy drive and no docking solution. Sharp claimed most of its corporate road warrior target customer won’t need those features and that third parties can fill in those holes. WideNote shipped two weeks ago in Japan and will ship in the US and Europe in October. Sharp shipped 150,000 notebooks into the US market in fiscal 1996 and expects to double that in 1997. It’s aiming to sell 45,000 to 60,000 WideNote machines in the US next year, almost a quarter of its notebook sales. Sharp shipped 500,000 notebooks worldwide in fiscal 1996, giving it 37.5% of the market. Asked if it will license its new Sharp Addressing dual scan LCD technology which is said to prevent shadows and waveform distoration, Sharp was coy: We expect our competitors to follow our lead. Sharp is launching a $10m ad campaign to promote its notebooks today. The WideNote weighs 4.6lbs and measure 11.5 by 7.8 by 1.6 and has a full size keyboard and comes in two models, the 100D with a dual scan color LCD for $3,000 and the 100T for $3,500 with an active matrix color LCD.
