Facts About Sony; Since its inception, Sony has repeatedly brought modern technology to the modern world. Technologies used in home, business and commerce. In fact, it is difficult to say how much Sony has produced and marketed revolutionary products.
The company began operations at the same time as World War II. Sony has now become one of the largest multinational Japanese companies in the world. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, but there is really no stranger to the name of the world. In this article, we will look at 25 interesting and fascinating facts that you probably do not know about this company. If you are present, join us.
Facts About Sony
It all started here
Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita co-founded the company on May 7, 1946. In fact, Ibuka alone initially opened an electronics store. He was literally interested in technology and it can be easily understood. His store initially started with only eight employees.
Morita later joined him to formally launch their company, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, or more properly Tokyo Telecommunication Engineering Corporation. This was the beginning of Sony.
Sony originally had another name
As you can see, the company name was not Sony at first. A few years after the company was founded, its founder was thinking of changing its title to TTK to better remember customers. However, before the name change, it became clear that a railway company in Japan was operating under the same name. Thus, the name of the company was changed to “Totsuko”.
During his first trip to the United States, Akio Morita realized that people could hardly pronounce letters like Totsuko. As a result, he decided to change the name of the company once again. He later changed his company name to Tokyo Teletech with his partner.
After this change, the founders of Sony found out that a company in this country has a suffix called Teletch. Finally, the company name was changed for the last time; A name that is still current in languages that users can easily remember and recite: Sony.
Sony sought to instill a sense of youth and happiness
The word Sony is derived from the two words “Sonus” and “Sonny”. The word Sonus means “sound” in Latin. The other word Sonny also refers to handsome and fashionable boys in the 50’s in America. Every founder of the company liked this compound word and decided to change the name of the company to Sony.
Sony’s first product
It is reported that Sony’s first product was a transistor radio. This radio is known as the TR-55 model, and if we are more precise, it can be said that it is the first transistor radio in the history of Japan. Sony introduced this radio in 1955. It should be noted, however, that it was not Sony’s name at the time; The company was renamed Sony in 1958.
Everyone starts with failure
Sony tried other things even before the radio was released. One of the company’s first electronic products was a rice cooker. Unfortunately, this machine became a complete failure, as in most cases, it either overcooked the rice or delivered it raw.
According to reports, only about 100 of these products have been sold. After this great failure, Sony focused on repairing and improving radio technology.
Sony Subscribers
Although Sony started as a very small company in Japan, it is now considered one of the largest companies in the world. At present, the company called “Sony Collection” has a large number of different subsidiaries. These include Sony Mobile, Sony Pictures, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Finance, Sony Music, and more. Parts like the PlayStation have sometimes gained so much popularity and quality that they are considered a separate brand alone.
Source of PlayStation
Let’s say you’re familiar with the PlayStation (aren’t you?). In fact, many of you may have first met Sony through the PlayStation. However, the idea of launching PlayStation goes back to Nintendo.
Nintendo asked Sony in the 1990s to design an installable device for the company’s console to run CDs. Sony designed the device in 1991 as the PlayStation.
However, for some reason, the partnership between Sony and Nintendo did not go anywhere and their contract was terminated. Sony, which at the time was closer to the video game industry than ever before, was seriously focusing on building a console. Launched a few years later in 1994, it became the best-selling fifth-generation console in the video game industry.
Sony’s impact on the history of technology
Sony is usually known for its innovations. This Japanese giant is always looking to develop new technologies or improve existing technologies. For example, for the first time, Sony partnered with several other companies to create CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, and Blu-ray Discs. These products also influenced the creation of flash memory and other storage technologies; A huge impact to the extent that we still see their survival today.
Walkman! When Sony reinterpreted music
Familiarity with the legendary Sony Walkman is one of the greatest achievements of a person’s life. In 1979, Sony first introduced its Walkman series of portable music player products. These products really changed the way people look at music players. It may not seem believable, but before that date, there were no portable music players.
Many traditional players at the time were bulky, but with the introduction of the Sony Walkman, the general public was able to put their favorite music in their pockets and listen to it anywhere.
The products of this series became a huge success; The brand was so successful that the word “Walkman” was used to refer to other distributors. According to Sony, as of March 31, 2009, about 385 million units of this series have been sold.
Extensive layoffs of Sony employees
Sony is a multinational corporation that serves the whole world. The super company had more than 114,000 employees in 2019. However, Sony, like all companies, sometimes has to adjust its workforce; Sony, for example, fired about 8,000 people in 2008 to save $ 1.1 billion.
In 2012, this situation was repeated. Sony fired nearly 10,000 more people this year to recoup the company’s operating profit. The dismissal of 1,000 employees in the mobile sector is another significant adjustment of the company’s staff.
The best-selling console in the history of the video game industry
Over the past 50 years, many companies have made consoles, but today only a handful of companies do. Among them today, Microsoft, Nintendo as well as Sony are quite prominent due to the release of the Xbox X and S series, Switch and PlayStation 5.
Among these well-established companies, Sony owns the total of the best-selling gaming consoles in history, with sales of over 600 million units. The PlayStation 2, released in 2000, is the best-selling gaming console in history, selling 163 million units.
Sony uniforms, from Japan to Steve Jobs!
Sony had a special uniform from 1970 to 1980. The employees of this company were obliged to wear a special, uniform and integrated form of uniform designed by the famous fashion designer Issey Miyake.
It is interesting to note that the iconic black turtleneck shirt worn by the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs was also designed by Miyaki and inspired by the uniform of Sony employees. Jobs wanted to make such uniforms mandatory for all Apple employees, but no one from Apple executives or employees supported the idea.
Sony’s total revenue
Sony has had some relatively bad years over the years, but it looks like it is back to square one. In 2019, the company had revenue of 80 billion US dollars, of which the net amount (profit) is about 8 billion dollars. Now, with the release of the PlayStation 5, the resurgence of the mobile segment with new policies and the modern segmentation of its subsidiaries, Sony is in a much better position.
Sony in movies and music
Sony Entertainment is divided into Sony Music Group and Sony Pictures Entertainment. This collection was founded in 2012. The main purpose of this section is to manage the Sony TV section, the animation section and of course the music-related businesses.
The total revenue of this sector in 2019 was about $ 14 billion; Thus, this section is the sixth top brand in the world, which is exclusively focused on entertainment.
Big Sony purchases
By 2019, Sony has acquired nearly 100 different companies. Yet they continue to buy and own brands and companies, large and small. Among the company’s biggest acquisitions are CBS Records Group, Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, Tes Sportes, EMI Music Publishing, Audiokinetic, Altair Semiconductor and more.
Sony Mobile Communications
Sony changed its name to Sony Mobile Communications after the acquisition of Ericsson. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Sony first partnered with popular Swedish communications company Ericsson in 2001, but became the original owner after buying $ 1 billion worth of shares in 2012.
Xperia smartphones are manufactured by this department today. However, unlike the last decade, Sony is no longer one of the most popular smartphone manufacturers. The company’s recent actions in changing the policies of introducing and offering the phone have finally benefited the mobile sector, and we have to wait and see what will happen in the future.
Forward to the cinema
In 1989, Sony entered the film industry with the acquisition of Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $ 3.4 billion. Subsequently, several film companies and film publishing companies were acquired by Sony, so that Sony could move forward with strength in this field.
Sony Pictures Entertainment is now one of the largest film studios in the world with an annual revenue of nearly $ 7 billion. Some of the highlights of this Sony subset are: The Karate Kid, Spider-Man, Men in Black, Venom, Skyfall and….
As well as music!
Sony Music Entertainment, also known as Sony Music Entertainment, or SME for short, is the largest music entertainment company in the world. Sony’s entry into the industry coincided with the acquisition of CBS Record Group for $ 2 billion in 1988.
Later, more companies that were also active in this field were added to Sony’s subsidiaries. Companies such as Bertelsmann AG, EMI Music Publishing, Gracenote and Famous Music made Sony the leading music player worldwide.
Thanks to the acquisition of these companies, Sony has the copyright to the works of 4 million artists. Among them are the names of singers such as Eminem, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and… who are well-known artists in the industry; The remarkable position of this section does not seem so strange now, does it?
Finance, a lesser-known subsidiary of Sony
In addition to operating in these areas, Sony also offers a variety of financial services. Sony Financial Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, like most of the company. Although many users are unaware of this section or ignore it despite being informed, this subset is one of the most profitable sections of the company.
In fact, when we say ‘profitable’, we mean half of Sony’s total revenue. This subsidiary manages Sony Bank, Sony Life Insurance, Sony Securities and Guarantee Services. In other words, this Sony subsidiary is the part that makes money; A real money printing press!
Towards the infinite and beyond
As you know and we have mentioned many times, Sony was initially a local company operating only in Japan but from the very beginning its founders considered themselves to belong to a higher horizon and sought to penetrate the global market.
To achieve this, they began exporting their products overseas during the 1950s and 1960s. This is exactly the time when the TR-63 transistor radio became a huge success and became very popular, especially in the United States. The main reason for this success was the portability and manual nature of this radio. Reports indicate that in 1955, more than 100,000 units of this product were sold.
In this way, the sales rate of units of this product increased day by day. By 1968, about 5 million TR-63 transistor radios were sold. People gradually fell in love with Sony products because of their extraordinary quality. Eventually, Sony quickly became one of the most popular companies in the world.
Sony and Japan
Sony made Japan one of the most powerful exporters in the world in the 60s, 70s and 80s. In addition, due to the high quality of its products, it became very popular and its global position was stabilized. Sony helped its mother country a lot in this regard. This remarkable quality improved the attitude and outlook of customers around the world so that people would have a positive attitude towards the phrase “Made in Japan” and Japanese goods.
A clear example of this is evident in the culture of our own country. Almost 50 years after the first launch of Sony products in Iran, families still believe that Japanese products are of unparalleled quality and extend this quality to other brands such as Panasonic and.. Sony is an example of a company’s comprehensive material and spiritual assistance to its hometown.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Sony Brand Interactive Entertainment is responsible for the production and distribution of PlayStation family consoles and some of its popular games. This subset focuses on the production, research, sales and development of hardware and software. As mentioned above, Sony has the most popular gaming console brand in history with total sales of 600 million PlayStation family consoles.
Some of the company’s most popular games such as Gran Turismo, Tetris Effect, Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and have been developed by this department.
Sony slogan
The current motto of the company is “Be Moved” or “Move”. This slogan was first introduced in 2013 and has been used ever since. The company’s motto has changed over and over since its inception. V Between 1979 and 1982, Sony’s motto was “One and Only”.
Between 1982 and 2005, the company’s motto changed to “It’s a Sony”. Between 2005 and 2009, the company’s motto changed to “Like no other”. From 2009 to 2013, the company’s motto was changed to “Make Believe”. The company’s subsidiaries, such as the PlayStation division, also have their own unique slogans, which we will not mention here.
Electric car industry
Today, many of the world’s largest technology companies are looking to expand their business to the frontier of self-driving and electric vehicles. Following this trend, Sony has entered the electric and automotive industry by investing $ 842,000 in ZMP. Sony also unveiled the concept design of its first product at the latest Consumer Electronics Show.
The company’s Vision-S car succeeded in attracting attention. The car was designed in collaboration with Sony and Magna International, an automotive company based in Canada. Unofficial reports have repeatedly indicated that Sony is working on technologies related to drones, as well as the entertainment sector.
Sony logo
We mentioned that Sony was known as Totsuko until 1955. After that date, the company used the “Sony” logo even without changing its name. The company’s logo has changed several times over the course of history, but these changes are all minor. The logo you are familiar with was first used in 1957, and the final version has been in use since 1973, retaining the original concept.
Many people in these 5 decades have tried to change the Sony logo, but as you know, Sony still works with the same logo; While the logos of many companies really need to be revised and usually changed, the Sony logo does not seem to have a problem attracting new audiences.
Finally, we come to the part where we talk about the middle ground. It is very difficult to say that no one knows Sony today. If you have read the above article, you know very well how Sony grew from a small local store in Japan to one of the most powerful companies in the world.
This popular company has introduced products that have changed our lives. Even today, Sony is making new innovations in the world of technology, and this trend has not stopped. We hope this lovable giant continues to thrive.
