Sharp joins Japanese desktop PC gang

The firm will early next year enter the consumer desktop market with a range that uses LCD screens and DVD-ROM drives, according to reports from Japan. If correct, Sharp would be bolstering a trend that has seen Sony and Toshiba produce its first desktops in the US this year, and Toshiba announce plans for a similar approach in the UK in 1997.

"It makes sense in that we're trying to produce larger LCDs rather than CRTs," said a Sharp UK spokeswoman. "We're making a huge commitment to notebooks, so it may be a natural progression."