The Sony we know today is all about shiny TV sets, mobile phones or cameras. It was a company that started with selling rice cookers. But that didn't work out well for the company. If it had then the Sony we know today would be a lot different.
Sony has emerged as one of the biggest producers of image sensors. It has a 50% market share as of 2019. Sony is among the leaders in the sales of semiconductors. It was the fifth largest maufacturer of televison as per the reports from 2015.
Sony-The new comer
The company was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka in 1946. Then this company was called TTK or Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo (Tokyo Telecommunications Laboratory). The name that the company has today came after 12 years.
The name of the company Sony is after the Latin word sonus. This word means ‘sound’. The word also refers to the word 'Sonny'. The word refers to a boy in his youth. The main aim for this name was that it was a easy name. a name that can be pronounced easily in any language. The name Sony was actually the name used for the batch of first transistor radios. The name was later adopted for the company. After it became more popular and a household name.
It was a student because of whom Sony became what it is today. There's this musical connect we talk about with Sony today.But do you know how it started to focus its efforts to make its audio reception and quality better? All the credit can be given to an opera student at the Tokyo Academy of Art. This student complained the founders about the bad quality of its first batch of sound recorders. The founders were impressed with him. They were happy about the critique. They eventually hired the boy. The boy was hired to help them improve.
Sony and its products
The idea of Walkman was never something that any executive at Sony was keen for.This was a product that revolutionized world music. It changed the way we hear music. This was the reason it went on to be sold for 31 years. The Walkman was sold as “Soundabout” in the US, “Stowaway” in the United Kingdom, and “Freestyle” in Australia.
The reason behind this was that overseas sales company thought this name of as Japanese-english. Sony America initially suggested the name “Sony Disco Jogger”.
Sony behind the bars- Sony is not just a company that makes for the living rooms. Sony has also produced electronics for those who are behind bars. This issue is known as the prison issue Walkman SRF-39FP. FP stands for Federal Prison.
It comes with a transparent body. A see through case prevents the inmates form hiding any contraband inside. But despite their inability to store devices. These small boxes were capable to pick up radio signals through the walls. They had a battery backup of 40 hours.
Sony and the story of PlayStation
Nintendo's the video gaming giant made one of its biggest mistake. It asked Sony to develop an add-on for its video games consoles. This would be helpful in playing compact discs. Sony did what it was asked for.But later it fell out of agreement over software licensing. But Sony then decided to make its own console.
This was very unfortunate for Nintendo.But it turned out to be very fortunate for gamers. This new console became the PlayStation. This took over Nintendo quickly.
Sony and its Bizzare Creations
Sony never introduced a bizzare creation that never made it to the market. It was named chorroco. It was a mini plastic VW campervan. This thing sat on the vinyl record and played music through its speaker as it roamed.
In 1998 Sony made a fool of itself by releasing a camcorder with nightvision. What was so special about this? The camera could be used to see through the clothes. Anyone who wore dark clothes would be exposed. It used Infra-Red light. The company however recalled the product despite selling over 70,000 pieces.
Sony's Invention
Sony was famous for its inventions. They always looked towards developing newer things. Sony was the developer of Compact disks and floppy Disks in association with other companies. Sony had some impacts on the developement of flask drives.
Total Revenue of Sony
Recently Sony saw some pretty bad years. But the company now is trying to come back to the top. As of 2019 the company had a revenue of 80 Billion USD. The net income of the company is 8 Billion USD as of 2019.
Sony's Staff uniform in the 70's and 80's
Sony had implemented a dress code from 1970 to 1980. All the staff had to wear a very special type of uniform. They had to wear it all the time at work. Issey Miyake, a fashion designer Japan, designed the uniform.
Issey Miyake was also the designer of the very famous turtle neck. The iconic dress that was worn by Steve Jobs.
Acquistions by Sony
In 2019, Sony acquired more than 100 companies.The company still purchases companies from time to time.
| Name of Sony Acquisitions | funding | Date |
|---|---|---|
| CBS Records Group | $2,000,000,000 | 5 January 1988 |
| Aiwa | 27th September 2002 | |
| Gracenote | $260,000,000 | 2 July 2008 |
| Grouper Networks | $650,000,000 | 23 August 2006 |
Author: Abhishek Gupta
Source : https://startuptalky.com/sony-unknown-interesting-facts/
Date : 2020-09-08T14:15:24.000Z