Sony

Sony Corporation (Japanese katakana: ソニー) {{Tyo|6758}}, {{nyse|SNE}} is a global consumer electronics corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. It is currently one of the world's largest producers of consumer electronics and is one of the biggest corporations in Japan.

History

Sony was founded by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita on May 7, 1946 as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering with about 20 employees. Their first consumer product, in the late 1940s, was a rice boiler. As it grew into a major international corporation, Sony acquired other companies with longer histories, including Columbia Records (the oldest continuously produced brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888). Today Norio Ohga is Honorary Chairman, Howard Stringer is Chairman and CEO, and Ryoji Chubachi is President and Electronics CEO.

Related Topics:
Masaru Ibuka - Akio Morita - May 7 - 1946 - 1940s - Columbia Records - 1888 - Norio Ohga - Howard Stringer - Ryoji Chubachi

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Brand change

When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a romanized name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not, is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK.

Related Topics:
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo - TTK - Tokyo Kyuko

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The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of the Latin word sonus, which is the root of sonic and sound, the English word "sunny", and from the word Sonny-boys which is Japanese slang for "whizz kids".

Related Topics:
Sony - Latin - English - Slang - Whizz kids

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However "Sonny" seemed not to be appropriate since it sounds too much like the Japanese soh-nee which means something like "business goes bad", Akio Morita pushed for a word that does not exist in any language so that they could claim the word "Sony" as their own (which paid off when they sued a candy producer who also used the name who claimed that "Sony" was just an existing word in some language).

Related Topics:
Akio Morita - Sony - Candy

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At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters instead of Chinese characters to spell its name. The move was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval.

Related Topics:
Roman letters - Chinese characters - Mitsui - Akio Morita

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In August 1955, Sony produced its first coat-pocket sized transistor radio they registered as the TR-55 model. In 1956, Sony reportedly manufactured about 40,000 of its Model TR-72 box-like portable transistor radios and exported some of this model to North America, the Netherlands and Germany.

Related Topics:
Transistor radio - Export - North America - Netherlands - Germany

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That same year they made the TR-6, a coat pocket radio which was used by the company to create its "SONY boy" advertising character. The following year, 1957, Sony came out with the TR-63 model, the then smallest (112 x 71 x 32 mm) set in commercial production. and a great sales success worldwide. The TR-63 was a shirt pocket transistor radio that was exported all over the world.

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On page 209 of the book The Portable Radio in American Life by University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., he wrote: "Sony was not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had began buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1958. However, this huge growth in portable transistor radio sales, that saw Sony rise to be the dominant player in the consumer electronics field, http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/medill/inside/medill_voices/how_transistor_radios_and_web_and_newspapers_and_hifi_radio_are_alike.html was not because of the consumers who had bought the earlier generation of tube radio consoles, but was driven by a distinctly new American phenomenon at the time called Rock and Roll.

Related Topics:
The Portable Radio in American Life - University of Arizona - 1957 - Rock and Roll

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Howard Stringer

On March 7th, 2005, Sony Corp. announced that Nobuyuki Idei will step down as Chairman and Group CEO and will be replaced by British Sir Howard Stringer, current Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America, Corporate Executive Officer, Vice Chairman and COO Sony Entertainment Business Group. Sony's decision to replace Idei with Wales native Howard Stringer will mark the first time that a foreigner will run a major Japanese electronics firm. Sony Corp. also announced on the same date that current president, Kunitake Ando, will step down and be replaced by Ryoji Chubachi. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200503/05-014E/index.html

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Acquisitions

In 1988, Sony acquired CBS (Columbia) Records Group from CBS. It was renamed "Sony Music Entertainment".

Related Topics:
1988 - CBS - Sony Music Entertainment

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In 1989, Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment from Coca Cola for US $3.4 billion. It was subsequently renamed "Sony Pictures Entertainment" in 1991.

Related Topics:
1989 - Columbia Pictures - Coca Cola - Sony Pictures Entertainment

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In 2000, Sony had sales of US $63 billion and 189,700 employees. Sony acquired Aiwa Corporation in 2002.

Related Topics:
2000 - Aiwa - 2002

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Sony also owns television channels in India and channels aimed at Indian communities in Europe.

Related Topics:
Television - India - Europe

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On July 20th, 2004, the EU approved a 50-50 merger between Sony Music Entertainment and BMG. The new company will be called Sony BMG and will, together with RIAA partner Universal, control 60% of the world wide music market.

Related Topics:
2004 - EU - Sony Music Entertainment - BMG - Sony BMG - RIAA - Universal

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On September 13th 2004 a Sony-led consortium finalised the deal to purchase famous film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for about $5 Billion, including $2Bn in debts.

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Legal

In 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America, marketer of the popular PlayStation game consoles, was sued by Immersion Corp. of San Jose, California which claimed that Sony's PlayStation "Dual Shock" controllers infringed on Immersion's patents. In 2004 a federal jury agreed with Immersion, awarding the company US$82 million in damages. A U.S. district court judge ruled on the matter in March, 2005 and not only agreed with the federal jury's ruling but also added another US$8.7 million in damages. Washington Post: Pay Judgment Or Game Over, Sony Warned

Related Topics:
PlayStation - Immersion Corp. - San Jose - California

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