As reported by TechJapan Sharp is planning to use Symbian in future phone, intially in its higher end offerings. Sharp see Symbian as a way to eaiser global distribution and diffferentiation of their handsets (currently 70% ship domestically). Not all Sharp phones will be Symbian OS powered, but it is clear that Symbian is at the heart of Sharp's future phone startegy.

Quote:

Mr. Matsumoto said that, "we currently ship 70% of our units domestically, but we would like to bring our international shipments up to 50% of the total. In this case, cellular phones featuring the Symbian OS would be easier to distribute throughout the world, and it would be easier to 'make a differentiation.' While we do not intended to have all of our products utilize the Symbian OS, we would like to gradually increase the percentage of our high-functionality products featuring the Symbian OS."

Read more at TechJapan