It used to be the Walkman, today it’s mainly televisions and the PlayStation that have helped the Japanese manufacturer Sony to world fame. But how did the company actually get so big?
The story of the Japanese global corporation Sony begins in the darkest hour. In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. The consequences of the war are still clearly visible in Tokyo a year later. Nevertheless, Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka found the Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō company in the ruins of the city. At the beginning, the company was based in a bombed-out department store. Under these adverse circumstances, the company initially builds transistor radios and tape recorders. Created from ruins, the two company founders gradually create a giant with a global reputation.
Sony – a name with history
If an entrepreneur wants to know how to expand a company into a global corporation, he should study the history of Sony very carefully. Founded under the most difficult circumstances, Sony always tries to be a pioneer. Of course, that doesn’t always work. But those who survived a war like the company founders do not let economic setbacks get them down.
The primary goal of the company is, first of all, to produce high-quality products. This works very well with their own transistor radios. The company encounters initial resistance when attempting to market its own devices internationally. Nobody abroad can pronounce the company name. A new name is needed.
Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka, the two company founders, also showed great courage when it came to choosing a name. The two quickly agree on the Latin term “sonus”, which translated means “sound”. At the same time, the English buzzword “Sunny Boy” became established in Japan in the mid-1950s.
So the two decide to use the made-up word “Sonny”. In Japanese, however, this word means something like “losing money”. That really does not work. Therefore, the second N flies out of the word and the “Sony” brand sees the light of day in 1955. In fact, Sony initially only acts as a pure brand name. The company itself only changed its own name to Sony in 1958.
Sony drives the development forward
There is a lot of criticism for this name in your own country. After all, no Japanese company has dared to choose a company name with Latin letters. The English origins of the name don’t make it any easier either. After all, almost ten years after the end of the Second World War, the USA is still considered an enemy country.
Undeterred by this, the Sony founders continue to expand their own company. The 1960s are a time of new inventions. Sony played a key role in getting some of them off the ground. The company now builds televisions as well as radios.
Sony is one of the pioneers in the development of color television. The Trinitron color picture tube significantly improves picture quality compared to previous tubes. Due to the long development time, however, Sony almost broke it. Only IBM’s entry into the project will ensure the company’s survival.
Betamax fie, Walkman hui
The manufacturer also tries to produce video recorders for home use in the early 1970s. For a long time, different formats fought for the place in the sun. In 1975, Sony presented its Betamax format. Due to the better image quality compared to the later popular VHS format, Sony still manages to make a name for itself among professional videographers with Betamax. However, only a small success. Because later, VHS video devices from JVC will move into the living room.
Once again the company proves that it cannot be defeated by setbacks. The beta max defeat is ticked off under instructive experience and a new product is quickly presented. In 1979, Sony introduced a pocket-sized portable cassette player. Soon the whole world is only talking about the Walkman. There has been a patent dispute about this for a long time.
The dispute arose because of the so-called Stereobelt, a “body-bound small system for the high-quality reproduction of audio events”, as the patent specification so beautifully puts it. And this dates back to 1977. It was submitted by the German-Brazilian developer Andreas Pavel. It was only after the death of company founder Akio Morita in 2004 that Sony agreed to an out-of-court settlement and ended the legal dispute with Andreas Pavel. As a result, Sony retains the worldwide trademark rights to the term Walkman, with the only exceptions being Australia and Austria.
Also read: Who is actually behind the JVC brand?
After the MiniDisc is before the Playstation
Sony wouldn’t be Sony if this success didn’t lead to the next failure. The company landed at the beginning of the 1990s with an attempt to replace the CD with the digital MiniDisc. The attempt ends in a debacle. Once again, private users are to blame. Radio professionals, on the other hand, swear by the MiniDisc. After all, interviews can be easily recorded in digital form and edited on the computer in first-class quality.
However, Sony quickly makes amends with home users. The MP3 format is now very popular. Sony does everything it can to ensure that a file in MP3 format does not just end up on a MiniDisc. In hindsight, a major mistake.
The story of success and failure continues at Sony. At the same time, the company is working on a games console the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the end of 1994, Sony presented the first Playstation and it would be a huge hit. With the Playstation, Sony finally takes the step towards becoming a company with a global reputation. The game console inspires gamers all over the world. Mainly thanks to exclusive titles such as the racing game “Gran Turismo”, the Playstation has been selling very successfully for many years.
While Sony still pays meticulous attention to copy protection on the MiniDisc, the Playstation game CDs are relatively easy to crack and copy. Probably part of the success. Sony is also farsighted with the other models in the Playstation series. Because the game console is now not only exciting for pure gamers, but also for music and film fans. After all, it can also be used to play CDs or watch films. The Playstation 3 probably made a significant contribution to establishing the new Blu-ray format in homes from the mid-2000s.
Sony goes under the car manufacturers
The range of products and the wealth of ideas from Sony seem almost inexhaustible. The company is one of the global players in the music sector and is also active in the film business with Columbia Pictures in Hollywood. In the almost 80-year history of the company, the company has repeatedly learned the right lessons from setbacks. Sony is now a global giant with a global reputation in the field of consumer electronics.
However, this does not stop the company from breaking new ground again and again. In the past, Sony has therefore also regularly served modern trends, for example with the robot dog Aibo at the beginning of the 2000s. This tradition continues today. Sony recently presented its own electric car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Vision-S aka Afeela, and TECHBOOK was there live.
The Japanese company wants to make autonomous driving and electric cars marketable in the long term. It remains to be seen whether Vision-S will actually be mass-produced. Maybe Sony will present a completely new idea tomorrow. The company could be trusted.