On May 7, 1946, Tokyo
Tsushin Kogyo K.K.
(Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering
Corporation), the precursor of the later Sony was
founded. The company started
small, with a capital of 190,000 yen and around 20
employees.
Masaru Ibuka,
the founder, formulated the goal of the company: "to
establish an ideal factory with a spirit of freedom and
openness to contribute to Japanese culture through
technology."
Sony tried to "do what
had not been done before" and often was the first to
produce a product that had never been made in Japan or
worldwide. |
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One of the first products was
the Type-G tape recorder that came on the market in
1950. The
1955 TR-72 was the first Japanese transistor radio,
released a little later than the very first transistor
radio of the American company Recency.
A large series of
transistor radios followed. |
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Sony was the first to
introduce a completely transistorized colour television;
in 1960 the
TV-8-301 came on the market. |
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Because the company
wanted a more international name, the name Sony was
chosen in 1958.
A branch was opened in the US in 1960.
Brandsteder Electronics became the
Dutch representative of Sony;
in 1988 Brandsteder was
completely absorbed in Sony Netherlands. |
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In the early 1980s,
Sony threatened to go downhill, but just in time it was
decided to develop the compact disc together with
Philips.
This product came on the market in 1982.
CBS Records and Columbia Pictures were
purchased at the end of the 1980s.
The companies continued as Sony Music
Entertainment and Sony Pictures. Entertainment.
Sony released their Play Station in
1994. Still,
there was no further success. |
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After years of financial
losses, it was proposed to shift Sony's focus as an
electronics company to three growing areas, namely
mobile technology, gaming and image technology. |
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