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Sony
Sony Group Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including electronics (Sony Corporation), imaging and sensing (Sony Semiconductor Solutions), entertainment (Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment), video games (Sony Interactive Entertainment), and others.
Sony was founded in 1946 as initially Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony Corporation. Initially an electronics firm, it gained early recognition for products such as the TR-55 transistor radio and the CV-2000 home video tape recorder, contributing significantly to Japan's post-war economic recovery. After Ibuka's retirement in the 1970s, Morita served as chairman until 1994, overseeing Sony's rise as a global brand recognized for innovation in consumer electronics. Landmark products included the Trinitron color television, the Walkman portable audio player, and the co-development of the compact disc.
Expanding beyond electronics, Sony acquired Columbia Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, while also entering the home video game console market with the launch of the PlayStation in 1994. In Japan, the company further diversified by establishing a financial services division, that would be turned into a separate company in September 2025, with the group maintaining 20% of the shares. In 2021, the company was renamed Sony Group Corporation as it transitioned into a holding company structure, with its electronics business continuing under the name Sony Corporation.
As of 2020[update], Sony holds a 55% share of the global image sensor market, making it the largest image sensor manufacturer, the second largest camera manufacturer, a semiconductor sales leader, and the world's third-largest television manufacturer by sales.
Although Sony is not part of a traditional keiretsu, it has historical ties to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, dating back to the 1950s when it relied exclusively on Mitsui Bank for financing. Sony is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (a component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices) and also maintains American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange, where it has been listed since 1961. As of 2021, it ranked 88th on the Fortune Global 500 and 57th on the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list.
Sony began in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in Shirokiya, a department store building in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. The company started with a capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. On 7 May 1946, Ibuka was joined by Akio Morita to establish a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (東京通信工業, Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō; Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder, called the Type-G. In 1958, the company changed its name to "Sony".
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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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Sony
Sony Group Corporation, commonly referred to as simply Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including electronics (Sony Corporation), imaging and sensing (Sony Semiconductor Solutions), entertainment (Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment), video games (Sony Interactive Entertainment), and others.
Sony was founded in 1946 as initially Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony Corporation. Initially an electronics firm, it gained early recognition for products such as the TR-55 transistor radio and the CV-2000 home video tape recorder, contributing significantly to Japan's post-war economic recovery. After Ibuka's retirement in the 1970s, Morita served as chairman until 1994, overseeing Sony's rise as a global brand recognized for innovation in consumer electronics. Landmark products included the Trinitron color television, the Walkman portable audio player, and the co-development of the compact disc.
Expanding beyond electronics, Sony acquired Columbia Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, while also entering the home video game console market with the launch of the PlayStation in 1994. In Japan, the company further diversified by establishing a financial services division, that would be turned into a separate company in September 2025, with the group maintaining 20% of the shares. In 2021, the company was renamed Sony Group Corporation as it transitioned into a holding company structure, with its electronics business continuing under the name Sony Corporation.
As of 2020[update], Sony holds a 55% share of the global image sensor market, making it the largest image sensor manufacturer, the second largest camera manufacturer, a semiconductor sales leader, and the world's third-largest television manufacturer by sales.
Although Sony is not part of a traditional keiretsu, it has historical ties to the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, dating back to the 1950s when it relied exclusively on Mitsui Bank for financing. Sony is publicly traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (a component of the Nikkei 225 and TOPIX Core30 indices) and also maintains American depositary receipts on the New York Stock Exchange, where it has been listed since 1961. As of 2021, it ranked 88th on the Fortune Global 500 and 57th on the 2023 Forbes Global 2000 list.
Sony began in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in Shirokiya, a department store building in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. The company started with a capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. On 7 May 1946, Ibuka was joined by Akio Morita to establish a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (東京通信工業, Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō; Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder, called the Type-G. In 1958, the company changed its name to "Sony".
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. 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. 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.
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. 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.