Who Makes Sharp Appliances And Where Are They Manufactured?

Sharp has a broad portfolio of appliances; while most of its products are kitchen-related, the company also makes everything from air purifiers to washing machines and vacuum cleaners. The company also makes TVs, but customers rate them quite low. Sharp also has a fairly complicated ownership structure.

Sharp appliances are made by the Sharp Corporation, a Japanese electronics and appliance brand founded back in 1912 by an inventor named Tokuji Hayakawa. It began as a metalworking shop in Tokyo, but the current name comes from Hayakawa’s Ever-Ready Sharp Pencil. Sharp’s current head office is in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Japan.

However, it’s also one of three major tech brands owned by Foxconn (Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.), its parent company. Sharp says that Foxconn primarily provides electronic manufacturing services, while Sharp itself sells telecommunications equipment, electronic devices, and other branded products. For U.S. consumers, Sharp Home Electronics Company of America is the Sharp bastion over here, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, which is itself a subsidiary of the Sharp Corporation. Sharp also manufactures in several other countries, including the U.S., Malaysia, France, Japan, China, and more.

Sharp manufactures appliances in a number of countries; where a specific model is made depends on the type of product, model number, and the market where it’s intended to be sold. As we pointed out in a previous article, for instance, Sharp is one of several microwave brands that make their products in the United States, but the company also has manufacturing facilities in Japan, Thailand, China, and elsewhere.

One well-documented, major production base is Sharp Appliances Ltd. in Thailand. It’s Sharp’s home-appliance producer in the country, and Sharp says it started pumping out refrigerators as far back as 1988. The plant has now produced more than 10 million fridges over its lifespan and exported them to around 100 countries, from the Far East to the Americas and beyond.

In the U.S., the Sharp Manufacturing Company of America, based in Memphis, has been making appliances for more than 40 years, starting with color TVs and microwaves all the way back in 1979. The Memphis facility now makes premium home appliances, and the city also houses some of Sharp’s sales, marketing, and service operations.