Foundation: 1946
Headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo
Chairman, President, and CEO: Kenichiro Yoshida
Executive Summary: Sony is one of Japan’s leading firms focusing on a diversified range of consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment, and financial services. It is among the global leaders in music, video games, electronics, and film entertainment. The firm’s origins date back to when Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in 1946, which would later become the company known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo with the help of Akio Morita. After building the Type-G, Japan’s first tape recorder in 1950, and the TR-55, Japan’s first transistor radio in 1955, the company changed its name to “Sony” in 1958. Subsequently, the company signed a deal with Western Electric in the United States that would lead to its first successful product line, the TR-63, a pocket-sized transistor radio, which brought international recognition. Due to the influx of US business, the Sony Corporation of America was established in New York City. By 1968, the company released its first color television, which led in turn to the first color VCR in 1971, and eventually to the Betamax VCR in 1975. The Betamax was a superior system to its competitor, the VCR, although because it was more expensive, it lost market share. In 1979, the Sony Walkman was released and became a major international hit, selling hundreds of millions of units. After a development agreement with Dutch company Philips Electronics NV, Sony released their first CD player in 1982. The following year, Sony introduced the world’s first camcorder. At this juncture, Sony began to diversify into other fields, such as the establishment of its own life insurance company. When Norio Ohga became company president, he bought CBS Records Group, the world’s largest record company, and Columbia Pictures Entertainment, adding entertainment content to Sony’s operations. These acquisitions were renamed to Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, respectively, in 1991. After losing both founders in the early 1990s, Sony reported its first loss of US$200 million in 1993. Despite this, in 1994, the Sony Computer Entertainment division introduced the PlayStation video game console, which by 2002 contributed to more than 10% of the company’s annual revenue. The Sony Online Entertainment division, particularly the internet virtual reality game EverQuest, was also a large source of profits. The Vaio line of personal computers was introduced in 1997 and marketed as a high-quality system for those interested in playing or developing multimedia programs. Howard Stringer was appointed CEO in 2005, becoming the first foreigner to run a major Japanese electronics firm. He reinvigorated Sony by cutting costs and encouraging movie blockbusters such as Spider-Man. The company continued to struggle, however, and in 2012 Kazuo Hirai, an executive in the video game division, was promoted president and CEO, replacing Stringer, but largely continuing his policies. More recently, Kenichiro Yoshida replaced Hirai and the company has been pursuing projects such as the Vision-S car, the Airpeak drone, and Soliss. Sony’s annual income is in the range of US$80 billion.
