Apparently a Brazilian economic group held the license of the SHARP brand in Brazil until 2000. I remember their main gig was TVs and VCRs back in the 80s. I think EPCOM was a separate company commissioned by this "SHARP" group to produce the HotBit and it's line of products. EPCOM operated on a tax subsidised industrial district mainly of technology companied in Manaus. That's why you see Z.F. MANAUS on their ROM which stands for Zona Franca de Manaus. But please don't quote me on any of this.
Mas que o Hotbit tem a cara do Goldstar FC-80, isso tem!
Hello guys,
The former owner of Microsol can ask questions by e-mail.
I also have contact with some members of Gradiente team, which worked on Expert.
But I don't have any names from EPCOM/Sharp team...
I think the Hotbit case was based on Yamaha CX5M. But they copied the Canon V-10/V-20 cursor keys...