Sony

**Sony** is a technology company, based in Japan, which makes many electric products. Among its most popular products is the video game console PlayStation, which was followed by PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and now the PlayStation 5. They also sold the Walkman invented by Andreas Pavel - a small music audio cassette player that could fit in one’s pocket - they later made Walkman systems that could play CDs, MiniDiscs or MP3s instead of tapes, and they often could receive radio too.

The company also makes music players, televisions, headsets, mobile phones (Sony Ericsson) and computers (named Sony Vaio), and game players (PlayStation).

It owns the American movie studios, Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, through Sony Pictures.

## History

Sony began its activity from a department store in Tokyo. At that time, 1946, the store was damaged by bombs. One engineer and one physicist invested a capital of about $1,600 to create a company which would include 20 employees. The name of the engineer was Masaru Ibuka and the name of the physicist was Akio Morita. People working in their new company repaired electrical equipment. Later they started creating their own products.

The company achieved success in 1954, when it received license that allowed producing transistors. Although transistors were already created in United States, they were not used in production of radios. Sony produced its first transistor radio in May of 1954.

From that period Sony started leading in the field of electronics. Its revolutionary devices included: Trinitron Color Television, created in 1968; color video cassette, produced in 1971 as well as the world's second home video system, created in 1975. Other revolutionary inventions of Sony include: 1979 – Walkman; 1981 – Electronic camera; 1982 – CD player; 1983 – Camcorder and the list continuous with many other devices. One of the most popular Sony products was Sony PlayStation, created in 1995. With its help Sony became the leader in videogames.

In 45 years Sony has grown from a small firm, employing 20 workers, to a multinational corporation, employing about 100,000 workers. The company created its American branch in 1960 and its UK branch in 1968. In recent years the company focused on leadership in software and hardware. Sony acquired, in 1988, CBS Records and formed Sony Music Entertainment. A year later the company bought Columbia Pictures to create Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sony would later join forces with BMG to form "Sony BMG." BMG Music Publishing was sold to Universal in 2007. Sony bought all of BMG's record labels in 2008, ending the "BMG" name.

## Other websites

- Sony website

## Infobox (company)

- **name**: Sony Group Corporation
- **logo**: Sony logo.svg
- **logo caption**: Logo used since 1973
- **type**: Public
- **traded as**:

- **foundation**: 7 May 1946 (as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo)
1958 (as Sony)
- **founder**: Masaru Ibuka
Akio Morita
- **location**: Minato, Tokyo, Japan
- **area served**: Worldwide
- **key people**: Osamu Nagayama
<small>(Chairman of the Board)</small>
Kazuo Hirai
<small>(President & CEO)</small>
- **industry**: Conglomerate (company), Conglomerate
- **products**: Consumer electronics
Semiconductors
Video games industry, Video games
Mass media, Media/Entertainment
Computer hardware
Telecommunications equipment, Telecom equipment
- **services**: Financial services, insurance, banking, credit finance and advertising agency
- **revenue**: US $72.349 billion (2013)
- **operating income**: US $2.448 billion (2013)
- **net income**: US $458 million (2013)
- **assets**: US $151.131 billion (2013)
- **equity**: US $28.523 billion (2013)
- **num employees**: 146,300 (2013)