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Sharp’s drive to become a leading European IT services provider

Sharp’s drive to become a leading European IT services provider

February 5, 2025
Security, Managed IT, Article

Building on a 113-year legacy, Sharp Europe is transforming itself into a leading European IT services provider. Strategic acquisitions are playing a key role in this growth which has enabled the company to develop an IT services division staffed by over 600 experts, including IT systems engineers, architects, project managers, and business analysts, primarily serving the SMB and mid-enterprise market.

The division has experienced an annual growth rate of 10% over the past three years and aims to maintain this growth rate.

At its IT services analyst event in Warsaw, the location of its European Technology Support Centre, Sharp revealed its vision and strategy for this business. Partner presentations highlighted Sharp’s cybersecurity offerings for SMBs, a critical element of its overall IT services portfolio.

Sharp’s transformation since the Foxconn acquisition

Nine years on from Foxconn’s landmark acquisition of Sharp, the company has undergone a significant transformation. Facing financial difficulties in 2016, Sharp found stability through Foxconn’s injection of capital and operational expertise. The immediate priority was restructuring, streamlining, and divesting non-core assets, a strategy that successfully restored profitability and laid a new foundation for the future. The landscape Sharp navigated then is vastly different from the one it faces today, and the company itself is in a state of continuous transition.

While the Foxconn acquisition brought financial stability, it also presented challenges. Integrating two distinct corporate cultures and addressing concerns about technology transfer have been ongoing processes. Sharp has had to balance the benefits of Foxconn’s manufacturing prowess with the need to maintain its own innovative spirit and brand identity.

Sharp Corporation’s revenue for FY2023 was ¥2,321.9 billion ($16.05 billion), an 8.9% decrease from the previous year. This decline was attributed to a fall in revenue in its Display and Electronic Device segments.

However, its Smart Office segment represents a bright spot in its business, accounting for 25% of net sales. In FY 2023, its Smart Office group reported an increase in sales of 3.6% year-on-year to ¥582.0 billion ($4.02 billion [€3.71 billion], with a significant increase in operating profit to ¥29.6 billion [$0.20 billion]).

For the first half of fiscal 2024, Sharp has seen a 21.4% increase in sales in the Smart Office segment, attributed to strong sales of B2B business equipment. One of the reasons for this strong performance is MFP sales, which are bucking the trend in an overall declining print market.

IT services as a growth opportunity

Managed IT services represent a key market opportunity for technology providers. According to Quocirca’s Managed IT Services study, most (90%) organisations plan to outsource some or all of their IT infrastructure management to an MSP. Overall, 26% of midmarket organisations (500–999 employees) plan to outsource 100% of their IT to an MSP, and 17% among larger enterprises.

The top reasons for outsourcing are IT complexity (cited by 45% of respondents), security risk and compliance (38%), lack of IT skills (35%), and legacy IT (35%). Notably, the lack of skills rises to 45% in the midmarket and falls to 28% in larger enterprises.

Sharp Europe recognises the need to seize the managed IT services opportunity but is taking a thoughtful, slow, and steady approach. This aligns with Sharp Europe president Joe Tomota’s vision and strategy of carefully considering how to approach the market. Of course, this approach is not new, with other vendors in the print market diversifying into IT services through acquisition – with mixed success.

Key strategic acquisitions

Sharp has strategically expanded its IT services presence in Europe through acquisitions, starting with the 2019 purchase of UK-based IT support services firm Complete IT to bolster digital transformation capabilities. This was followed by the 2021 acquisition of Swiss IT services company ITpoint Systems, aimed at expanding Sharp’s service offerings in Switzerland.

Most recently, in 2024, Sharp acquired Apsia, a French company specialising in digital transformation and cloud integration, further demonstrating its commitment to European IT market growth. Combined with organic expansion, these acquisitions aim to position Sharp as a growing player in the European IT services landscape.

Broad alliance ecosystem

Sharp IT Services  currently supports over 40,000 users across 1,500 customers, nine languages, and 100+ countries. It has built an extensive, if complex, catalogue of services from managed security, cloud services, and transformation and application services.

Sharp’s European Technology Support Centre was established in 2020 and offers application services, backup and continuity, NOC services, and managed security, such as security information event management (SIEM), managed detection and response (MDR), and vulnerability management.

Sharp has built a broad ecosystem of technology partners, primarily Microsoft, across business apps, cloud infrastructure, and Windows 365. It plans to build on this partnership to benefit from improved pricing and support from Microsoft and access a larger potential customer base.

Mature cybersecurity offerings

Sharp offers a range of cybersecurity packaged offerings for its SMB customers. Built around the NIST framework and aligning with the UK government-backed Cyber Essentials framework, Sharp offers packaged services that include cybersecurity audits, Cyber Essentials services, and cyber-aware employee training alongside end-point security solutions to monitor and remediate devices proactively.

  • Cyber Essentials. Sharp offers comprehensive support to businesses seeking Cyber Essentials certifications. This includes Cyber Essentials Support, a one-off support offering to help customers achieve Cyber Essentials accreditation for the year, and Cyber Essentials as a Service, an ongoing solution to ensure compliance. This service is offered through Sharp’s partnership with Cyber Smart, a UK certification body for Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus. Cyber Smart reports that it has 5,000 UK customers and is expanding internationally. The focus is on providing certification and the need for SMBs to improve their cybersecurity posture continuously. Cyber Smart supports 900 UK MSPs and consultancies that embed their offerings into their security services. After building on Cyber Essentials in the UK, Sharp aims to deliver an NIS2 managed service for the EU.
  • Cyber-Aware Training. Sharp offers comprehensive Cyber Security Awareness training through its partnership with Nimblr. This service includes assessments and testing of team members on their knowledge of incident reporting, internet use, social media, email security, passwords and authentication, mobile devices, and human firewalls. It also includes simulated phishing attacks and zero-day threats.

Microsoft Copilot Consulting Services

Sharp also offers Copilot Assessment readiness services, including a current environment review in which Sharp investigates a customer’s technical infrastructure to determine the areas where Copilot has the biggest impact, identifying user personas and profiles, a data security review, and implementation recommendations.

Quocirca opinion

Quocirca believes Sharp’s focused acquisition strategy is paying off, positioning the company for growth in the IT services market. Its expanding portfolio of services is particularly well-suited to the needs of SMBs.

While enterprise expansion is planned, Sharp Europe must first streamline its SMB offerings to address the complexity of its extensive service catalogue.

Building credibility and reputation is a key challenge for Sharp, as it is for all manufacturers transitioning into the IT services sector, even those with established customer bases.

It is competing not only with other print vendors moving into IT services but also with a much broader and fragmented MSP landscape. Brand perception, often tied to traditional products, needs careful management to build trust and demonstrate IT service expertise.

A key hurdle is shifting from a hardware-centric legacy mindset to a service-oriented approach, requiring cultural adjustments in training, sales, and internal processes.

Attracting and retaining top IT talent will be crucial to success while scalability presents another challenge. This requires robust processes and technology investments to manage growth efficiently while maintaining consistent service quality.

To successfully navigate these challenges, Sharp must adopt a strategic blend of leveraging existing strengths, targeted acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and an ongoing focus on service quality.

Without these investments in talent and infrastructure, even the most successful brand repositioning efforts will fall short of achieving sustainable growth and market leadership in the IT services market.

Watch Quocirca’s interview with Sharp Europe on the subject of cybersecurity trends in the SMB market.

For more information about becoming a Quocirca client, click here.

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