May 30, 2023, 6:46 am | Read time: 6 minutes
Once it was the Walkman, today it’s mainly televisions and the PlayStation that have propelled the Japanese manufacturer Sony to global fame. But how did the company actually become so big?
The story of the Japanese global corporation Sony begins in its darkest hour. In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. In Tokyo, the aftermath of the war was still clearly visible a year later. Nevertheless, Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka founded the company Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō in the city’s ruins. Initially, a bombed-out department store served as the company’s headquarters. Under these adverse conditions, the company first built transistor radios and tape recorders. Born from ruins, the two founders gradually created a giant with a global reputation.
Overview
Sony–A Name with History
If an entrepreneur wants to know how to build a company into a global corporation, they should study the history of Sony closely. Founded under the most challenging circumstances, Sony repeatedly strives to be a pioneer. This is not always successful, of course. But those who have survived a war, like the company’s founders, are not easily discouraged by economic setbacks.
The company’s primary goal was initially to produce high-quality products. This was achieved excellently with their own transistor radios. The company first encountered resistance when trying to market its devices internationally. No one abroad could pronounce the company name. A new name was needed.
In choosing a name, Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka, the two founders, showed great courage. They quickly agreed on the Latin term “sonus,” which translates to “sound.” At the same time, the English buzzword “Sunnyboy” had also become popular in Japan by the mid-1950s.
So, they decided on the coined word “Sonny.” However, in Japanese, this word means “to lose money.” That wouldn’t do. So, the second “N” was dropped, and the brand “Sony” was born in 1955. Initially, Sony functioned only as a brand name. The company itself didn’t change its name to Sony until 1958.
Sony Drives Development Forward
This name drew significant criticism in their own country. After all, no Japanese company had dared to choose a company name with Latin letters before. The English origins of the name didn’t make it any easier. After all, the U.S. was still considered an enemy country nearly ten years after the end of World War II.
Undeterred, the Sony founders continued to expand their company. The 1960s were a time full of new inventions, some of which Sony played a crucial role in developing. By then, the company was building not only radios but also televisions.
In the development of color television, Sony was among the pioneers. The Trinitron color picture tube significantly improved picture quality compared to previous tubes. However, due to the long development time, Sony almost went under. Only IBM’s entry into the project secured the company’s survival.
Betamax Boo, Walkman Yay
In the early 1970s, the manufacturer also attempted to produce video recorders for home use. For a long time, various formats vied for dominance. In 1975, Sony introduced its Betamax format. Due to its better picture quality compared to the later popular VHS format, Sony managed to make a name for itself with Betamax among professional videographers. However, this was only a minor success, as VHS video devices from JVC later entered living rooms.
Once again, the company demonstrated its resilience in the face of setbacks. The Betamax flop was chalked up as a learning experience, and a new product was quickly introduced. In 1979, Sony unveiled a pocket-sized portable cassette player. Soon, the whole world was talking about the Walkman, although there was a long-standing patent dispute over it.
The dispute arose due to the so-called Stereobelt, a “body-worn small system for high-quality playback of audio events,” as the patent document elegantly put it. This was filed in 1977 by the German-Brazilian developer Andreas Pavel. It wasn’t until after the death of company founder Akio Morita that Sony agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Andreas Pavel in 2004, ending the legal dispute. This allowed Sony to retain worldwide trademark rights to the term Walkman, with exceptions only in Australia and Austria.
Read also: Who is actually behind the brand JVC?
Who is Actually Behind the JVC Brand?
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After the MiniDisc Comes the PlayStation
Sony wouldn’t be Sony if another failure didn’t loom after this success. The company experienced this at the beginning of the 1990s with its attempt to replace the CD with the digital MiniDisc. The attempt ended in a debacle. Once again, private users were to blame. Radio professionals, however, swore by the MiniDisc, as it allowed for easy digital recording of interviews and high-quality editing on a computer.
However, Sony quickly alienated home users. The MP3 format was becoming increasingly popular. Sony did everything to ensure that an MP3 file could not simply end up on a MiniDisc. In hindsight, this was a major mistake.
The story of success and failure continued at Sony. Meanwhile, the company was working on a gaming console unlike anything the world had seen before. At the end of 1994, Sony introduced the first PlayStation, which became a huge hit. With the PlayStation, Sony finally made the leap to a company with a global reputation. The gaming console thrilled gamers worldwide. Thanks to exclusive titles like the racing game “Gran Turismo,” the PlayStation sold very successfully for many years.
While Sony was still meticulous about copy protection with the MiniDisc, the PlayStation’s game CDs were relatively easy to crack and copy, likely contributing to its success. Sony also showed foresight with subsequent models of the PlayStation series. The gaming console now delights not only gamers but also music and film enthusiasts. After all, it can also play CDs or watch movies. The PlayStation 3 likely played a significant role in establishing the new Blu-ray format in homes from the mid-2000s.
Sony Enters the Automotive Industry
Sony’s product range and creativity seem almost inexhaustible. The company is a global player in the music industry and is also active in the film business with Columbia Pictures in Hollywood. Throughout its nearly 80-year history, the company has consistently learned the right lessons from setbacks. Today, Sony is a global giant with a worldwide reputation in consumer electronics.
However, this doesn’t stop the company from continually exploring new paths. In the past, Sony has regularly embraced modern trends, such as the robotic dog Aibo in the early 2000s. This tradition continues today. Recently, Sony unveiled its own electric car, Vision-S, also known as Afeela, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, TECHBOOK was live there.
The Japanese company aims to make autonomous driving and electric cars market-ready in the long term. Whether Vision-S will actually go into series production remains to be seen. Perhaps Sony will present a completely new idea tomorrow. The company is certainly capable of it.