Hobbies And Interests
Founding
Sony was created as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Company by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita during the start of the post-war era in Japanese history. Originally a very small company that repaired radios and other equipment, it grew quickly into a manufacturer of voltmeters and transistors. While transistor radios were an American invention, Sony was the first to make them profitable with the creation of the Sony TR-55.
Naming
The name Sony has many myths and misconceptions associated with it. The true history of the name, as published by the Sony Corporation on its information pages, is a combination of the Latin word "sonus" meaning sound and a common nickname for boys during the 1950s, "sonny." The name was determined prior to the release of the TR-55 as a Romanized form and was necessary for international trade. Many Japanese took offense with the use of a Romanized word as a trademark by a Japanese company.
Globalization
The decision for Sony to go global may have upset local interests, but it proved to be an excellent one. Sony quickly gained market share overseas as the portable transistor radios were a large hit and very profitable. Seeing the opportunity for future success, Sony moved from transistor radios to other home electronics as consumer interest rose throughout the 1960s and '70s.
Consumer Electronics
With the release of the Betamax videocassette system in 1975, it became clear that Sony had found its niche in the rapidly-expanding global marketplace. This was followed closely with the release of the Walkman portable music system in 1979, and profits continued to grow within the now-multinational corporation. Further advances in formats such as the 3.5-inch floppy disk, compact disc, Hi8, memory stick and Blu-ray have continued this tradition.
Music, Movies and Video Games
In 1968, Sony teamed with CBS to create what would become the record label Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Sony bought the rest of the company from CBS in 1987 and opened Sony Music Entertainment in America. That same year, the company announced a division called Sony Computer Entertainment, which delivered the first Playstation gaming system. Two years later, Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment, then renamed it Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1991.