Sharp Passes Camera Phone Milestone
In October 2000, Sharp Corporation took initiative in the industry by supplying Japan's J-PHONE with the J-SH04 mobile phone, which featured a built-in digital camera that enabled users to take photos and send/receive images via email. Since then Sharp has continued to develop mobile phones with industry-leading built-in digital cameras, and has teamed up with mobile communications service providers to give users new functions thanks to its proprietary device technologies-small, high-image-quality CMOS imagers and CCD cameras, and LCD that offer superior picture quality for photos taken with the built-in digital camera.
Sharp's major Camera-Equipped Mobile Phones
| Model | Customer | Date of release | Main features |
| J-SH04 | J-PHONE | October 2000 | First built-in digital camera for J-PHONE |
| J-SH07 | J-PHONE | June 2001 | Built-in TFT LCD, digital camera, and folding type |
| J-SH51 | J-PHONE | December 2001 | First built-in digital camera compatible with "Movie Sha-mail" video messaging service |
| SH251i | NTT DoCoMo | May 2002 | First built-in digital camera compatible with "i-shot" service |
| GX10 | Vodafone | September 2002 | Compatible with "Vodafone live!" service for Europe |
| SH251iS | NTT DoCoMo | November 2002 | Built-in digital camera, first phone with 3D LCD |
| J-SH010 | J-PHONE | March 2003 | Built-in digital camera, first phone with CG-Silicon LCD |
By using its proprietary strengths to develop products that anticipate customer needs, Sharp has achieved a popularity that has seen its camera-equipped mobile phone production reach 10 million units in just two and a half years.
The positive response of the market has allowed Sharp to reach this production milestone. The company will now work to take camera-equipped mobile phones worldwide by stepping up development of key technologies and devices and by developing products from the users' standpoint."
Posted to the site on 27th May 2003
