In Company 3.0 Intermediate Audio

[Egisto Chancellor]

Sonywas established in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. This electronics company, known for creating products such as the transistor radio TR-55, the home video tape recorder CV-2000, the portable audio player Walkman, and the compact disc player CDP-101, embarked on diverse business ventures. In 1988, Sony acquired CBS Records, and in 1989, it acquired Columbia Pictures. The company also introduced the home video game console PlayStation in 1994. In Japan, Sony expanded into the financial sector. In 2021, Sony transformed into a holding company, handing over the name Sony Corporation to its subsidiary as the electronics company.

Sony, with its 55 percent market share in the image sensor market, is the largest manufacturer of image sensors, the second largest camera manufacturer, and is among the semiconductor sales leaders.[7][8][9] It is the world's largest player in the premium TV market for a television of at least 55 inches (140 centimeters) with a price higher than $2,500 as well as second largest TV brand by market share and, as of 2020, the third largest television manufacturer in the world by annual sales figures.[10][11][12][13]

Although not being a part of any traditional keiretsu, Sony has a weak tie to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG), which traces its roots to the Mitsui zaibatsu.[14] This connection dates back to the 1950s when it was the only bank the company dealt with.[15] Sony is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (in which it is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indeces) with an additional listing in the form of American depositary receipts listed in the New York Stock Exchange (traded since 1961, making it one of the oldest Japanese company to be listed on an American exchange),[15] and was ranked 88th on the 2021 Fortune Global 500 list.[16] In 2023, the company was ranked 57th in the Forbes Global 2000.[17]

Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founders Morita and Ibuka realized that to achieve success and grow, their business had to expand to the global market, which required labeling their products with a short and easy brand name.[25] While looking for a romanized name, they at first strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TTK.[22] The company occasionally used the syllabic acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name.[26]

The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words: one was the Latin word "sonus", which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was "sonny", a common slang term used in 1950s America to call a young boy.[27][28] In 1950s Japan, "sonny boys" was a loan word in Japanese, which connoted smart and presentable young men, which Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka considered themselves to be.[27]

At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji. 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.[22]

According to Schiffer, Sony's TR-63 radio "cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics."[30] By the mid-1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5 million units by the end of 1968.[31]

Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America in 1960.[21] In the process, he was struck by the mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time.[21] When he returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers and consider joining Sony.[21] The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese companies to do the same.[21] Moreover, Sony played a major role in the development of Japan as a powerful exporter during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s,[32] supplying the U.S. Military with bomb parts used in the Vietnam War.[33] It also helped to significantly improve American perceptions of "made in Japan" products.[34] Known for its production quality, Sony was able to charge above-market prices for its consumer electronics and resisted lowering prices.[34]

In 1971, Masaru Ibuka handed the position of president over to his co-founder Akio Morita. Sony began a life insurance company in 1979, one of its many peripheral businesses. Amid a global recession in the early 1980s, electronics sales dropped and the company was forced to cut prices.[34] Sony's profits fell sharply. "It's over for Sony", one analyst concluded. "The company's best days are behind it."[34]

Around that time, Norio Ohga took up the role of president. He encouraged the development of the compact disc (CD) in the 1970s and 1980s, and of the PlayStation in the early 1990s. Ohga went on to purchase CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, greatly expanding Sony's media presence. Ohga would succeed Morita as chief executive officer in 1989.[35][citation needed]

Under the vision of co-founder Akio Morita[36] and his successors, the company had aggressively expanded into new businesses.[32] Part of its motivation for doing so was the pursuit of "convergence", linking film, music and digital electronics via the Internet.[32] This expansion proved unrewarding and unprofitable,[32] threatening Sony's ability to charge a premium on its products[36] as well as its brand name.[36] In 2005, Howard Stringer replaced Nobuyuki Idei as chief executive officer, marking the first time that a foreigner had run a major Japanese electronics firm. Stringer helped to reinvigorate the company's struggling media businesses, encouraging blockbusters such as Spider-Man while cutting 9,000 jobs.[32] He hoped to sell off peripheral business and focus the company again on electronics.[36] Furthermore, he aimed to increase cooperation between business units,[36] which he described as "silos" operating in isolation from one another.[37] In a bid to provide a unified brand for its global operations, Sony introduced a slogan known as "make.believe" in 2009.[35][citation needed]

Despite some successes, the company faced continued struggles in the mid- to late-2000s.[32] In 2012, Kazuo Hirai was promoted to president and CEO, replacing Stringer. Shortly thereafter, Hirai outlined his company-wide initiative, named "One Sony" to revive Sony from years of financial losses and bureaucratic management structure, which proved difficult for former CEO Stringer to accomplish, partly due to differences in business culture and native languages between Stringer and some of Sony's Japanese divisions and subsidiaries. Hirai outlined three major areas of focus for Sony's electronics business, which include imaging technology, gaming and mobile technology, as well as a focus on reducing the major losses from the television business.[38]

In February 2014, Sony announced the sale of its Vaio PC division to a new corporation owned by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners and spinning its TV division into its own corporation as to make it more nimble to turn the unit around from past losses totaling $7.8 billion over a decade.[39] Later that month, they announced that they would be closing 20 stores.[40] In April, the company announced that they would be selling 9.5 million shares in Square Enix (roughly 8.2 percent of the game company's total shares) in a deal worth approximately $48 million.[41] In May 2014 the company announced it was forming two joint ventures with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to manufacture and market Sony's PlayStation game consoles and associated software in China.[42]

It was reported in December 2016 by multiple news outlets that Sony was considering restructuring its U.S. operations by merging its TV & film business, Sony Pictures Entertainment, with its gaming business, Sony Interactive Entertainment. According to the reports, such a restructuring would have placed Sony Pictures under Sony Interactive's CEO, Andrew House, though House would not have taken over day-to-day operations of the film studio.[45][46][47] According to one report, Sony was set to make a final decision on the possibility of the merger of the TV, film, & gaming businesses by the end of its fiscal year in March of the following year (2017).[45]

On 19 May 2020, the company announced that it would change its name to Sony Group Corporation as of 1 April 2021. Subsequently, Sony Electronics Corporation would be renamed to Sony Corporation.[53] On the same day the company announced that it would turn Sony Financial Holdings (currently Sony Financial Group), of which Sony already owns 65.06% of shares, to a wholly owned subsidiary through a takeover bid.[54]

On 1 April 2021, Sony Corporation was renamed Sony Group Corporation. On the same day, Sony Mobile Communications Inc. absorbed Sony Electronics Corporation, Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., and Sony Home Entertainment & Sound Products Inc. and changed its trade name to Sony Corporation.[55]

Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies, while its success in the early years owes to a smooth capitalization on the Digital Compact Cassette standard introduced by Philips,[56] with which Sony went on to enjoy a decades-long technological relationship in various areas. Sony (either alone or with partners) has introduced several of the most popular recording formats, including the 3.5-inch floppy disk, compact disc and Blu-ray disc.[57]

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