RE: Forget TVs. Sharp Sees a Future in Strawberry Farming.
In response to Dillon Young’s blog post on Sharp, I agree that their decision in entering the market of strawberry farming is a good decision in the long run.
Sharp is a struggling electronic company that is very well known for its televisions and other electronic devices. In September this year, they decided to experiment with strawberry farming, where they track temperature and humidity with Sharp technology. This is done in Dubai because the demand for Japanese strawberries is high and they are quick to spoil. Sharp aims to achieve stable production of high quality strawberries.
According to the Ansoff Matrix, this is an example of the growth strategy Market Development. This growth strategy is when a business sells existing products in new markets. In this case, Sharp, once a consumer electronic company, now aims at agricultural companies to buy their lights, sensors and air purifier. I belive this growth method is not high risk since they are familiar with the product that is being marketed. Nonetheless, they might not be familiar with the market conditions and cultures. Hence, the success of a product in one market segment does not necessarily guarantee its success in other market segments.