Sharp Laboratories of America

What Sharp Laboratories of America does

Sharp Laboratories of America (SLA) is a private, wholly-owned research and development subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, established in 1990 and headquartered at 17200 SE Mill Plain Blvd., Suite 200, Vancouver, Washington. The lab operates as Sharp Corporation's primary US-based research center, employing a specialized technical team whose members hold degrees across nine disciplines including Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics, Imaging Science, and Biomedical Engineering, with over half holding advanced degrees and the team representing 15+ countries of origin. An in-house legal team supports intellectual property development.

SLA's research portfolio is concentrated in two named technology areas: Video Compression and Streaming, and LTE & Beyond 5G wireless communications. The stated differentiators are performance and speed in video compression and a novel method/architecture approach in next-generation wireless research. SLA does not sell consumer-facing products or services and does not publicly disclose pricing; the business model operates as R&D services and technology licensing back to the parent company, Sharp Corporation, which then commercializes resulting technologies through its global sales and distribution network. The company has no independent external investors, no public listing, no disclosed M&A activity, no external partnerships, and no publicly listed patents, awards, or certifications.

Go-to-market is effectively internal: SLA's outputs are transferred upstream to Sharp Corporation for commercialization, and the lab relies on the parent's corporate channels for any downstream distribution. Leadership is led operationally by Kecia Andersen, Senior Director of Finance and Business Operations, who joined in 2011 and holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Oregon and is an Oregon-licensed CPA, with prior experience at Intel Corporation and Vital Therapies. The company is operating, the careers page currently shows no openings, and there is no disclosed AI/ML capability stack, app presence, or API/SDK offering.

Name

Sharp Laboratories of America

Legal name

Sharp Laboratories of America

Website

https://sharplabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sharp Laboratories of America is the US-based research and development subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, conducting advanced research in video compression and streaming and LTE/Beyond 5G wireless technologies for commercialization by its parent.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. R&D Services to Sharp Corporation: Sharp Laboratories of America operates as the research and development subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, providing advanced technology research and development services. Revenue is generated through R&D contracts and technology licensing back to the parent company.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Sharp Laboratories of America is the U.S.-based research and development subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, conducting advanced technology research in video compression and streaming, as well as LTE and Beyond 5G wireless communications. SLA does not sell products directly to consumers; instead, it develops proprietary technologies and intellectual property that are licensed and transferred to Sharp Corporation for commercialization through its global sales and distribution channels.

Product overview

Sharp Laboratories of America (SLA) is a research and development center focused on technology innovation. The company conducts research primarily in two technology areas: Video Compression and Streaming, and LTE & Beyond 5G wireless communications. SLA serves as the research arm supporting Sharp's broader technology and product initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Video Compression and Streaming Research Research-focused program in video compression and streaming technologies, providing advanced R&D and intellectual property development for Sharp Corporation's commercialization efforts.
• LTE and Beyond 5G Wireless Communications Research Research-focused program in LTE and next-generation 5G wireless communication technologies, providing advanced R&D and intellectual property development for Sharp Corporation's commercialization efforts.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Sharp CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSharp Laboratories of America is a wholly-owned research and development subsidiary of Sharp Corporation. SLA conducts advanced research in video compression, streaming, LTE, and 5G technologies for Sharp Corporation's product development and commercialization efforts.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Nokia Bell Labs: Bell Labs is the corporate R&D arm of Nokia, conducting fundamental and applied research in wireless communications, video, and networking — directly analogous to SLA's role as Sharp's in-house research lab in video compression and LTE/5G.
• Qualcomm Research: Qualcomm's research division performs advanced wireless and 5G R&D, much of which feeds the parent's chip and licensing business — closely mirroring SLA's video compression and Beyond 5G research feeding Sharp's product roadmap.
• Ericsson Research: Ericsson Research is the corporate R&D unit of Ericsson focused on wireless systems, 5G and beyond — a direct functional analog of SLA's wireless communications research program operating inside a larger parent.
• Dolby Laboratories: Dolby is a research-and-IP-driven company whose core competency is advanced video and audio compression — the same research domain as SLA's Video Compression and Streaming focus area, making it a direct technology-domain peer.
• Samsung Research: Samsung Research is the consolidated corporate R&D division of Samsung Electronics working across wireless, multimedia, and next-generation communications — directly comparable to SLA's role as a subsidiary of a major Asian electronics conglomerate researching similar domains.
• DOCOMO Innovations: DOCOMO Innovations is the US-based R&D subsidiary of NTT DOCOMO (Japan), conducting wireless and multimedia research — a near-perfect structural analog to SLA as a Japanese-owned American corporate R&D lab.

Emerging players

• InterDigital: InterDigital is a pure R&D and IP-licensing company specializing in wireless, video, and imaging technologies. While not a captive corporate lab, its business model of monetizing R&D output through licensing mirrors how SLA commercializes IP back to Sharp.

Broad incumbents

• IBM Research: IBM Research is the large, established corporate R&D arm of IBM, comparable in structure to SLA as an internal research subsidiary serving a parent's commercial priorities across many technology domains including wireless and video.
• Intel Labs: Intel Labs is the long-standing corporate research arm of Intel, performing fundamental and applied research in communications, imaging, and computing — structurally identical to SLA as an in-house R&D subsidiary of a large technology parent.
• Philips Research (Signify / Philips): Philips Research is the in-house R&D division of the Dutch electronics conglomerate, performing applied research across imaging, communications, and connected devices — comparable to SLA as an established corporate research subsidiary within a global electronics parent.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/wix
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wix-com

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sharp Laboratories of America