Sony Corporation
Content
TYO: 6758 6758,, NYSE NYSE:: SNE) SNE), commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese Japanese multinational multinational conglomerate conglomerate corporation headquartered in Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社 Sonī Kabushiki Gaisha?) (TYO: Kōnan Minato Kōnan Minato,, Tokyo, Japan Japan..[4] It ranked 73 on the 2011 list of Fortune Global 500. 500.[3][5] Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics electronics products for the consumer and professional markets..[6] markets unit and the the parent company company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its four operating segments – Electronics (including game, Sony Corporation is the electronics electronics business unit [7][8][9] network services & medical business), Pictures, Music and Financial Services. Services.[7][8][9] These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment Entertainment,, Sony Computer Entertainment Entertainment,, Sony Music Entertainment, Entertainment, Sony Mobile business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics Electronics in the U.S.), Communications (formerly Sony Ericsson), and Communications and Sony Financial. Financial. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. Leaders. Japan-based corporate group group primarily focused on the Electronics (such as AV/IT products & components), Game (such as The Sony Group (ソニー・グループ Sonī Gurūpu ) is a Japan-based PlayStation), Entertainment (such as motion pictures and music), and Financial Services (such as insurance and banking) sectors. The group consists of Sony Corporation (holding & electronics), Sony Computer Entertainment Entertainment (game), (game), Sony Pictures Entertainment Entertainment (motion pictures), pictures), Sony Music Entertainment Entertainment (music), (music), Sony Financial Holdings Holdings (financial services) and and others others.. ?
Morita and and Masaru Ibuka Ibuka derived the name from from sonus, the the Latin Latin word for sound, and also from the English slang word "sonny", since they considered themselves to be "sonny Its founders founders Akio Morita word into Japanese which in the early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men men..[6] boys", a a loan word
Contents
History 1 History name 1.1 Origin of name 2 Formats and technologies technologies 3 Products Products 3.1 PlayStation PlayStation 3.2 VAIO VAIO 3.2.1 Laptop batteries dysfunction dysfunction 3.3 Sony Pictures Entertainment Entertainment 3.4 Sony BMG BMG photography 3.5 Digital photography 4 Corporate information information 4.1 Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures ventures 4.2 Regional manufacturing and distribution distribution 4.3 Finance and revenue revenue
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5 Environmental record record efforts 5.1 Improvement efforts 5.2 Green TV TV controversy 5.3 Criticism and controversy 6 See also also References 7 References reading 8 Further reading 9 External links links o
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History
Masaru Ibuka Ibuka,, the co-founder of Sony In late 1945, after the end of World War II, II, Masaru Ibuka Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bomb-damaged department store store Shirokiya Shirokiya building in in Nihonbashi Nihonbashi of Tokyo. The next year, he was joined by his colleague, colleague, Akio Morita Morita,, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K.,[10] (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder recorder,, called the Type-G Type-G..[10] In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about about Bell Labs' Labs' invention of the the transistor transistor..[10] He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company. While most American companies were researching researching the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka and Morita looked to apply it to communications. and Texas Instruments Instruments built the first transistor radio as joint venture, it was Ibuka's company that made them commercially successful for Although the American companies companies Regency Electronics Electronics and the first time. In August 1955, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo released the Sony MK-55, Japan's first commercially produced produced transistor radio. radio.[11] They followed up in December of the same year by releasing the Sony TR-72, a product that won favor both within Japan and in export markets, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands Netherlands and Germany. Featuring six transistors, push-pull output and greatly improved sound quality, the TR-72 continued to be a popular seller into the early sixties. In May 1956, the company released the TR-6, which featured an innovative slim design and sound quality capable of rivaling portable tube radios. It was for the TR-6 that Sony first contracted Atchan, a cartoon character created by Fuyuhiko Okabe, to become its its advertising character. character. Now known as "Sony Boy", the character first appeared in a cartoon ad holding a TR-6 to his ear, but went on to represent the company in ads for a variety of products well into the mid-sixties mid-sixties..[10] The following year, 1957, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo came out with the TR-63 model, then the smallest [10]
(112 × 71 × 32 mm) transistor radio in commercial production. It was a worldwide commercial success success..
University of Arizona Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, PhD, says, says, "Sony was not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1968.
Sony Group Headquarters at at Sony City City in in Minato, Tokyo Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo Tokyo around the end of 2006 2006..[12][13] Sony's headquarters moved to to Minato, Tokyo Tokyo from
Origin of name When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a romanized name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company company Tokyo Kyuko Kyuko was known as TKK. TKK.[10] The company occasionally used the acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until until Akio Morita Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name. name .[14] The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the the Latin Latin word "Sonus", which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was "Sonny", a familiar term used in 1958..[15] 1950s America to call a boy. boy.[6] The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958 At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use use Roman letters letters to spell its name instead of writing it in in kanji kanji.. The move was not without opposition: TTK's Mitsui,, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did principal bank at the time, time, Mitsui not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval approval..[10]
Formats and technologies Further information: information: List of Sony trademarks trademarks Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies. The most infamous of these was the the videotape format war war of the early 1980s, when Sony marketed the the Betamax Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the VHS format developed by by JVC JVC.. In the end, VHS gained critical mass in the marketbase and became the worldwide standard for consumer VCRs and Sony adopted the format. While Betamax is for all practical purposes an obsolete format, a professional-oriented professional-oriented component video video format called called Betacam Betacam that was derived from Betamax is still used today, especially in the television industry, although far less so in recent years with the introduction of digital and high definition. Trinitron brand name name for its lines of aperture grille grille cathode ray tube tube televisions and (later) (later) computer monitors monitors.. Trinitron displays are still produced, but only for In 1968 Sony introduced the the Trinitron markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Sony discontinued the last Trinitron-based television set in the USA in early 2007. Trinitron computer monitors were discontinued in 2005. Sony launched the the Betamax Betamax videocassette recording recording format in 1975. In 1979 the the Walkman Walkman brand was introduced, in the form of the world's first portable music player. 1982 saw the launch of Sony's professional professional Betacam Betacam videotape format and the collaborative Compact Disc (CD) format. In 1983 Sony introduced 90 mm micro diskettes (better known as 3.5inch (89 mm) mm) floppy disks disks)), which it had developed at a time when there were 4" floppy disks and a lot of variations from different companies to replace the then on-going 5.25" flopp y disks. MSX,, a home Sony had great success and the format became dominant; 3.5" floppy disks gradually became obsolete as they were replaced by current media formats. In 1983 Sony launched the the MSX computer system, and introduced the world (with their counterpart counterpart Philips) Philips) to the Compact Disc (CD). In 1984 Sony launched the the Discman Discman series which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products. In 1985 Sony launched their Handycam products and the the Video8 format. format. Video8 and the follow-on hi-band hi-band Hi8 Hi8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder market. Tape as a new digital audio tape standard. In 1987 Sony launched the 4 mm DAT or or Digital Audio Tape In addition to developing consumer-based recording media, after the launch of the CD Sony began development of commercially based recording media. In 1986 they launched Write-Once optical discs discs (WO) and in 1988 launched launched Magneto-optical discs discs which were around 125MB size for the specific use of archival data storage storage..[16] In the early high-density optical storage were and being developed: onetheir was MMCD the MultiMedia Compact by Philips and one Sony, and the other wason theMMCD Super and manystandards others. Philips Sony abandoned format and agreedDisc upon(MMCD), Toshiba'sbacked SD format with only modification based Density disc1990s (SD),two supported by Toshiba by Toshiba technology, viz viz EFMPlus. EFMPlus. The unified disc format was called DVD which was marketed in 1997. Sony introduced the the MiniDisc MiniDisc format in 1993 as an alternative to Philips DCC or or Digital Compact Cassette. Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its own audio Sony's Network Walkman Walkman line of digital portable music players did not support the MP3 compression technologies under the the ATRAC ATRAC brand, against the more widely used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's de facto standard natively, although the provided software software SonicStage SonicStage would convert MP3 files into the ATRAC or ATRAC3 formats. Digital 5.1 surround sound format with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called called SDDS SDDS (Sony In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard standard Dolby Digital Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at the time. Unlike Dolby Digital, SDDS utilized a method of backup by having mirrored arrays of bits on both sides of the film which acted as a measure of reliability in case the film was partially damaged. Ultimately, SDDS has been vastly overshadowed by the preferred DTS (Digital Theatre System) System) and Dolby Digital standards in the motion picture industry. SDDS was solely developed for use in the theatre circuit; Sony never intended to develop a home theatre version of SDDS. format; flash memory memory cards for use in Sony lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of Sony's own In 1998, Sony launched their their Memory Stick format; cards (SD) commanding considerably greater popularity. This is due in part to the SD format's greater throughput (which allows faster recording and access), higher products with with Secure Digital cards capacities, and significantly lower price per unit capacity capacity compared to Memory Sticks available at the same time. Sony has made updates to the Memory Sti ck format with with Memory Stick Duo Duo and and Memory Stick Micro Micro.. system SACD. SACD. The latter has since been entrenched in a format war with with DVDSony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips di gital interface format (S/PDIF) S/PDIF) and the high-fidelity audio system Audio.. At present, neither has gained a major foothold with the general public. CDs are preferred by consumers because of ubiquito us presence of CD drives in consumer devices. Audio In 2004, Sony built upon the the MiniDisc MiniDisc format by releasing releasing Hi-MD. Hi-MD. Hi-MD allows the playback and recording of audio on newly introduced 1 GB Hi-MD discs in addition to playback and NetMD.. In addition to saving audio on the recording on regular MiniDiscs. Recordings on the Hi-MD Walkmans can be transferred to and from the computer virtually un restricted, unlike earlier earlier NetMD
discs, Hi-MD allows the storage of computer files such as documents, videos and photos. Hi-MD introduced the ability to record CD-quality audio with a linear PCM recording feature. It was the first time since MiniDisc's introduction in 1992 that the the ATRAC ATRAC codec codec could be bypassed and lossless CD-quality audio could be recorded on the small discs. Sony was one of the leading developers and remains one of the strongest proponents of the the Blu-ray Disc Disc optical disc format, which eventually emerged as the market leader over the competing the Sony BDP-S1 BDP-S1,, debuted in standard, Toshiba's Toshiba's HD DVD, DVD, after a 2 year-long format war. The first Blu-ray players became commercially available in June 2006, and Sony's first Blu-ray player, the [17][18][19] ][19] December 2006 with an MSRP of US $999.95. By the end of 2007 the format had the backing of every major motion picture studio except except Universal Universal,, Paramount, Paramount, and and DreamWorks DreamWorks..[17][18 The Blu-ray format's popularity continued to increase, solidifying its position as the dominant HD media format, and Toshiba announced its decision to stop supporting HD DVD on 19 February 2008. Over the years, Sony has introduced these standards:
Umatic Umatic (~1968) Betamax Betamax (1975) Betacam Betacam (1981) Disc (1982) with Compact Disc with Philips Philips 3.5 inch Floppy Disk (1982) Video8 (1985) Video8 DAT DAT (1987) Hi8 Hi8 (1988) MiniDisc (~1990) MiniDisc Betacam (~1990) Digital Betacam miniDV miniDV (1992) DVD with others (~1995) DVCAM (1996) DVCAM Memory Stick (1998) Digital8 Digital8 (1999) Universal Media Disc Disc (~2003) HDV HDV with with JVC JVC (~2004) Blu-ray Disc with Panasonic Panasonic and and others others Disc (2006) with
Products called AIBO AIBO,, humanoids, humanoids, and and QRIO QRIO.. Sony offers a number of products in a variety of product lines around the world. Sony has developed a music p laying robot called called Rolly, Rolly, dog-shaped robots called
PlayStation
The The Slimline PlayStation 2 2 with controller Originally, Nintendo requested for Sony to develop a CD addon for the SNES. Sony announced the proposed product, dubbed the "Play Station" Station" at the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. However, Nintendo realized that in the original contract, Sony would have had complete control over all CD-based titles for system, and they secretly cancelled all plans. The two companies reached a deal where the Play Station would have a port for the SNES games, but Nintendo would own the rights and receive the bulk of the profits f rom the games, and the SNES would continue to use the Sony-designed audio chip. Sony then b egan to rework the Play Station concept to target a new generation of hardware and software. The SNES port was removed, as well as the space between "Play" and "Station", making the name of the console PlayStation. PlayStation to compete with other consoles. This successful console was succeeded by the the PlayStation 2 2 in 2000. The PlayStation 2 has become the most In late 1994, Sony launched the the PlayStation successful video game console of all time, selling over 150 million units as of 2011. The PlayStation brand was extended to the portable games market in 2005 b y the the PlayStation Portable Portable (PSP). Sony developed the the Universal Media Disc Disc (UMD) optical disc medium for use on the PlayStation Portable. Although Sony tried to push the UMD format for movies, major-studio support for the format was cut back in spring 2006, though as of 2009 some major-studio titles continue to be released on UMD.[dated info] Sony released the the PlayStation 3 3,, a high-definition console, in 2006. It later introduced the the PlayStation Move, Move, an accessory that allows players to control video games using motion controllers. Sony announced that on 1 April 2010[20] it was electronically removing removing Linux[21] functionality from the first generation PS3 PS3..[22] A class action has been taken out in California challenging the iring graffiti graffiti artists to spray paint advertisements for their their PlayStation Portable Portable legality of "the disablement of valuable functionality originally advertised" advertised"..[23] Sony admitted in late 2005 to h iring City,, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, San Francisco Francisco,,[24] and and Sydney, Australia Australia.. The mayor of Philadelphia filed aa cease and desist desist order. According to Sony, game system in seven major cities including including New York City they paid businesses and building owners for the right to graffiti their walls walls..[25] As of January 2006, Sony had no pl ans to keep or withdraw them.[dated inf o] In November 2006, a marketing company employed by Sony created a website entitled "All I want for Xmas is a PSP", designed to promote the the PSP PSP through through viral marketing marketing.. The site contained a blog, which was purportedly written by "Charlie", a teenager attempting to get his friend "Jeremy"'s parents to buy him a PSP, providing links to t-shirt iron-ons, Christmas cards, and a "music video" of either Charlie or Jeremy "rapping". However, visitors to the website soon discovered that the website was registered to a marketing company, exposing the site on sites such as digg,, and Sony was forced to admit the site's true origin in a post on the blog, stating that they would from then on "stick to making cool products" and that they would use the YouTube and and digg PSP". ". The site has since been taken down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony admitted that the idea was "poorly executed". executed".[26] website for "the facts on the the PSP
In 2003, Sony Computer Entertainment America, marketer of the popular popular PlayStation PlayStation game consoles, was sued by by Immersion Corporation Corporation of San Jose, California California which claimed that Sony's PlayStation "Dual Shock" controllers infringed on Immersion's patents. In 2004, a federal jury agreed with Immersion, awarding the company US$82 million in damages. A U.S. district court judge ruled on the matter matter in March 2005 and and not only agreed with the federal jury's ruling but also added another another US$8.7 million in damages. This is likely the reason reason that the the Sixaxis Sixaxis controller the PlayStation 3 3,, reintroducing rumble capabilities. capabilities. Microsoft Microsoft Corp. was also sued for its its Xbox Xbox for the PlayStation 3 had no rumble feature. The The DualShock 3 3 has since been made available for the controller, however, unlike Sony, they settled out of court so they could continue using the technology for the follow-up follow-up Xbox 360 360..[27] A California judge ordered Sony to pay Immersion a [citation needed ] licensing fee of 1.37 percent per quarter based on the sales of PlayStation units, Dual Shock controllers, and a selection of PlayStation 2 games that use Immersion's technology. Sony's second portable video game system, called called PlayStation Vita Vita was released on 17 December 2011 in Japan and on 22 February 2012 in North America and Europe.
VAIO Main article: article: VAIO VAIO Sony offers a line up laptops branded as VAIO. Previously Sony has disabled hardware virtualization on their high end end VAIO VAIO laptops, citing concern for users running malicious code code..[28] However, most new VAIO laptops can utilize virtualization. virtualization .[29] Laptop batteries dysfunction
In April 2006, a Sony laptop battery exploded in Japan and caught fire. A Japanese couple in Tokyo sued both Sony and and Apple Apple Japan for over ¥2 million (US$16,700) regarding the incident. The suit argues that the man suffered burns on his finger when the b attery burst into flames while being used, and his wife had to be treated for mental distress due to the incident. incident.[30] Sony batteries batteries that could result in the battery overheating and catching fire. As a result they recalled over 4.1 million laptop On 14 August 2006, Sony and and Dell Dell admitted to major flaws in several Sony batteries in the largest computer-related recall recall to that point in history. The cost of this recall was shared between Dell and Sony. Dell also confirmed that one of its laptops caught fire in Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Industry to order the companies to investigate the troubles with the batteries. The ministry said that Sony must Illinois..[31][32] This recall also prompted Japan's Illinois have reported on their findings and drawn up a plan to prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under consumer safety laws laws..[33] On 23 September 2006, Sony announced its [34] investigation of aa Lenovo Lenovo ThinkPad ThinkPad T43 laptop which overheated and caught fire in the Los Angeles International Airport on 16 September, an incident that was confirmed by Lenovo. Acer,, Apple Computer Computer,, Dell, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu, IBM, IBM, Lenovo, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard Hewlett-Packard,, On 28 September 2006, Sony announced a global battery exchange program in response to growing consumer concerns concerns..[35] Acer and and Toshiba Toshiba all recalled Sony laptop batteries batteries..[36] It was also reported that Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Hitachi were considering the possibility of seeking compensation from Sony over the battery [37] recalls.. recalls problem..[38][39] A Japanese newspaper, newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, Shimbun, reported that Sony was aware of faults in its notebook PC batteries in December 2005 but failed to fully study the problem
Sony Pictures Entertainment Manning,, who gave consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a fictitious film critic, critic, David Manning Columbia Pictures Pictures that generally received poor reviews amongst real critics critics..[40] When the scandal was revealed, Sony apologised to Ridgefield Press, the newspaper Manning was claimed to be from. Sony claimed it was unaware of the marketing ploy, and pulled the ads and suspended Manning's creator and his supervisor. In 2003, Sony paid the state of Connecticut $325,000 in fines following the Connecticut Attorney General's investigation into Sony's alleged fraudulent marketing practices. practices.[41] In August 2005, Sony finalized a settlement to pay $1.5m to fans who saw the [42] reviewed films in the US. US. In 2006 Sony started using using ARccOS Protection Protection on some of their film DVDs, which caused compatibility problems with some DVD players – including models manufactured by Sony. After complaints, Sony was forced to issue a recall. recall.[43]
Sony BMG scandal Main article: article: Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal In October 2005, it was revealed by by Mark Russinovich Russinovich of Sysinternals Sysinternals that that Sony BMG BMG''s music CDs had installed a a rootkit rootkit on the user's computer as aa DRM DRM measure (called (called Extended Copy Protection by its creator, British company Protection company First 4 Internet Internet)), which was difficult to detect or remove remove..[44] This constitutes a crime in many countries, and poses a major security risk to affected users. The uninstaller Sony initially provided removed the rootkit, but in turn installed aa dial-home dial-home program that posed an even greater security risk. Sony eventually provided an actual uninstaller that removed all of Sony's DRM program from the user's computer. Sony BMG faced several class action lawsuits regarding this matter. matter.[45] On 31 January 2007, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a news a release release announcing that Sonyconsumers BMG hadtoagreed to settle Federal Trade30Commission charges that Sonyconsumers BMG committed offenses against United States law. that Thisthey settlement required that Sony BMG allow exchange the CDs through June 2007, and to reimburse for up toseveral $150 for the repair of damage to theirfederal computers may have incurred while removing the software. In September 2009 Sony had its Mexican office raided by police to recover over 6000 CDs, masters and artwork, by the popular Latin American artist artist Alejandro Fernández. Fernández. Fernández's lawyers claimed that Sony was in breach of contract as Fernández had been contracted to Sony for seven albums and the recordings were an eighth album made after the contract had expired expired..[46]
Digital photography Sony offers a range of digital cameras, ranging from point-and-shoot models to digital SLRs. Initially, in October 2005, it was reported by Sony that there were problems with the the charge-coupled devices devices (CCD) in 20 mod els of digital still cameras. The problems can prevent the cameras from taking clear pictures, and in some cases, possibly prevent a picture being taken at all. In late November 2006, the recall was broadened to eight additional models of digital cameras sold between 2003 and 2005. The problem appears to manifest itself mostly when the camera is used in areas with hot weather. The eight models affected are the following: DSC-F88, DSC-M1, DSC-T1, DSC-T11, DSC-T3, DSC-T33, DSC-U40 and DSC-U50. Sony indicated that they would repair or replace the affected camera at no charge. Since Sony is one of the largest producers of CCD chips, this recall may affect other m anufacturers and models of cameras, possibly as many as 100 models or more. Other manufacturers of digital cameras, including Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus or Fuji have indicated they will replace faulty CCDs in their respective models of cameras if necessary necessary..[47]
Corporate information
Sony's current President & CEO CEO Kaz Hirai Hirai On 22 June 2005, 2005, Nobuyuki Idei Idei stepped down as Sony Corp. Chairman and Group CEO and was replaced by Howard Stringer, then Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America, Stringer marked the first time that a foreigner Corporate Executive Officer, Vice Chairman and COO Sony Entertainment Business Group. Sony's decision to replace Idei with th e British British Howard Stringer has run a major Japanese electronics firm. On the same date, date, Kunitake Ando Ando stepped down as President and was replaced by Ryoji Chubachi. Sony Corporation publicly announced a new [48] [48] Hirai,, on 1 February 2012. Hirai stepped up as President and CEO on 1 April 2012. 2012 . Stringer will remain as Chairma Chairman n until the annual shareholders meeting and President and CEO, CEO, Kazuo Hirai is expected to become the Chairman of the Board in June 2012. 2012 .[49][50] Sony's former slogans were "The One and Only", "It's a Sony" and "like.no.other". Its current [when?] slogan is "make.believe ".
Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures This section requires requires expansion. expansion. On 28 March 2012, Sony Corporation and and Sharp Corporation Corporation announced that they have agreed to further amend the joint venture agreement originally executed by the parties in July 2009, as amended in April 2011, for the establishment and operation of Sharp Display Products Corporation ("SDP"), a joint venture to produce and sell large-sized LCD panels and modules modules [51] Further information: information: List of acquisitions by Sony Corporation Corporation
Regional manufacturing and distribution Slightly more than 50% of the electronics' segment's total annual production during the fiscal year 2005 took place in Japan, including the production of digital cameras, video cameras, flat panel televisions, personal computers, semiconductors and components such as batteries and Memory Sticks. Approximately 65% of the annual production in Japan was destined for other regions. China accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production, approximately 70% of which was destined for other regions. Asia, excluding Japan and China, accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production with approximately 60% destined for Japan, the US and the EU. The Americas and Europe together accounted for the remaining slightly less than 25% of total annual production, most of which was destined for local distribution and sale sale..[52] [53]
Sony's Sales and Distribution by Geogra Geographical phical Regions in 2009 [53] Geographic Region Total Sales (yen in millions) Japan United States Europe Other Area
1,873,219 2,512,345 2,307,658 2,041,270
On 9 December 2008, Sony Corporation announced that it would be cutting 8,000 jobs, dropping 8,000 contractors and reducing its global manufacturing sites by 10% to save $1.1 billion a year. year.[54]
Finance and revenue In May 2011, Sony expected to lose a total of 260 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for the year, due to the effects of the Japanese earthquake. The forecast of a $3.2 billion loss was quite different than its earlier projection of a profit of 70 billion yen ($857 million) for the year year..[55] For the last three years, Sony has lost 399.3 billion yen ($5.1 billion) due to fierce competition mainly with with Apple Inc. Inc. and and Samsung Samsung Electronics Inc. In September 2000 Sony had a market capitalization of $100 billion; but by December 2011 it had plunged to $18 billion, reflecting falling prospects for Sony but also reflecting grossly inflated share prices of the 'dot.com' years. years.[56] Net worth, as measured by stockholder equity, has steadily grown from $17.9 billion in March 2002 to $35.6 billion through December 2011; as measured by book value per share, respective figures are $19.4 to $34.2, as shares outstanding have been expanded approximately 10%. 10%.[57] Earnings yield (inverse of P:E) has never been more than 5% & usually much less; thus Sony has always traded in over-priced ranges with the exception of the 2009 market bottom. Sony's TV unit alone set to lose $2.2 billion on tumbling demand and surging yen. Sony has sold off TV factories in in Spain, Spain, Slovakia Slovakia and and Mexico Mexico in the past few years and retains plants of its own China and and Malaysia Malaysia.. In December 2011, Sony has agreed to sell all stake in an LCD joint venture with with Samsung Samsung Electronics for about $940 million and then Sony will outsource in Japan, Japan, Brazil, Brazil , China the LCD panel from other company as Sony outsourced in the past few years for more than a half of its production. production .[58] On 10 April 2012 – Sony announced that it would slash its workforce by 10,000 (6% of their employee base) as part of Kazuo Hirai's effort to get the company back into the green, after 520 billion yen (roughly US$6.36 billion) loss as the worse loss since the company was founded for the year ended 31 March 2012 (accumulation loss for the past four years was 919.32 billion-yen). He became Chief Executive Office Officerr on 1 April 2012 2012..[59][60]
Environmental record In November 2011, Sony was ranked 9th (jointly with Panasonic) in Greenpeace's re-launched Guide to Greener Electronics that assesses the policies and practices to reduce climate impact, produce greener products, and make operations more sustainable of 18 leading electronics manufacturers. manufacturers. The company scored 3.6/10, incurring a penalty point for comments it has made in opposition to energy efficiency standards in California. It also risks a further penalty point in future editions for being a member of trade associations that have commented against energy efficiency standards. standards.[61] Together with with Philips Philips,, Sony receives the highest score for energy policy advocacy after calling on the EU to adopt an unconditional 30% reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Meanwhile, it receives full marks for the efficiency of its products; all of its TVs meet or exceed the latest Energy Star standards. However, Sony scores no points on its paper policy, risking another penalty point in future editions, as it is listed as a client of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a company associated with illegal logging and deforestation in Indonesia Indonesia..[61]
Sony publishes on its website a list of products, for which the company had (as of February 2010) or intended to replace PVC and BFR with alternative substances by the end of FY 2010 (April 2011), nevertheless, as of January 2011, the list does not identify which products are fulfilling these criteria at the moment moment..[62]
Improvement efforts Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference. Conference.[63] Sony's policies address their effects on global warming, the environment, and resources. They are taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they put out as well as regulating the products they get from t heir suppliers in a process that they call "green procurement". procurement".[64] Sony has said that they have signed on to have about 75 percent of their their Sony Building Building running on on geothermal power power.. The "Sony Take Back Recycling Program" allow consumers to recycle the electronics products that they buy from (Recycling) drop-off points around the U.S. The company has also developed a biobattery that runs on sugars and carbohydrates that works similarly to the way Sony by taking them to to eCycle (Recycling) living creatures work. This is the most powerful small small biobattery biobattery to date date..[65]
Green TV For salewith in Japan on 30image July 2008, Sony's green flat-panel Sony Bravia offers ecological consumers' advantage advantagestotaling s of less 79 energy consumption (70% less) than regular TV. Sony was able to reduce reduce carbon dioxide dioxide emissions kilograms (174 pounds) a year, without models the same quality. It is one of product, t he leastnew power consuming consuming LED TV.KDL-32JE1 sacrificing quality by developing a brighter back light and better filtering, which produces light more efficiently. The TVs will have liquid crystal displays along with high-definition digital [66][67][68] ][68] broadcast capabilities. capabilities.[66][67
Criticism and controversy In 2000, Sony was ridiculed for a document entitled "NGO Strategy" that was leaked to the press. The document involved the company's surveillance of environmental activists in an attempt to plan how to counter their movements. It specifically mentioned environmental groups that were trying to pass laws that held electronics-producing companies responsible for the clean up of the the Greenpeace Greenpeace chart "Guide to Greener Electronics." This chart graded major electronics companies toxic chemicals contained in their merchandise. merchandise.[69] In early July 2007, Sony ranked 14th on the on their environmental work. Sony fell from its earlier 11th place ranking due to to Greenpeace' Greenpeace 's claims that Sony had double standards in their waste policies. policies .[70] Entertainment (SCE) filed suit against against George Hotz Hotz for publishing a technique for for hacking the PlayStation 3 3 to allow it to run alternative alternative operating systems systems On 11 January 2011, 2011, Sony Computer Entertainment Linux.. The case, case, Sony Computer Entertainment America v. George Hotz, Hotz , attracted much negative publicity among among hackers hackers and on the Internet at large. On or about 4 April 2011, adherents like like Linux letter[71] that they were directing their hostile "undivided attention" against Sony, largely in response to the Hotz case case..[72] of the the Anonymous Anonymous movement declared in an open letter On 21 April 2011, Sony Computer Entertainment was subjected subjected to to distributed denial of service attacks attacks,, apparently in retaliation for its case against Hotz. Hotz .[73][74] On 26 April Sony announced that the the PlayStation Network (PSN) had been attacked, allegedly resulting in the theft of the personal information of 77 million account holders. It seems that the attack took place between 17 April and 19. 19.[75] Sony blamed blamed Anonymous Anonymous for the attack ,[76] although at least some Anonymous members denied responsibility responsibility..[77] Sony decided to shut down the PlayStation Network "indefinitely" [78] [79] following the attack , although it returned to service on 14 May, following a 26 day outage. outage. Sony was criticized for waiting 6 days after the 21 April attack to disclose the breach to users who may h ave been impacted, impacted,[80] and for storing information including credit card numbers, [81] passwords, and security questions, without sufficient sufficient encryption encryption.. The company now faces aa class action action lawsuit seeking redress for PlayStation Network users. users.[82] A subsequent lawsui lawsuitt[83] between Sony's insurers sought declaratory action for clarification of their responsibilities listed under the individual policies they had written for Sony. The insurers facing litigation are Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, AIG, and and ACE Ltd.[84] On 5 May, Sony released a letter from chairman Sir Howard Stringer, directed at PSN and Qriocity Music Service users, announcing plans for a program which includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user. user .[85] Australia has called for a ban on PSN until Sony can prove network security security,,[86] while Japan is the first country to place an outright ban on the service. service.[87] The PSN service was fully restored in Japan as of 5 July 2011. Ericsson website in Canada and the the Sony Music Entertainment Entertainment website in Greece had been compromised, putting the personal information of more On 25 May, Sony announced that its its Sony Ericsson than 10,000 users at risk .[88] Security consultant Phil Lieberman said Sony's approach to customers that wanted to modify PlayStation 3 software, including the decision to sue Hotz, was a fatal mistake. "Telling them to bring it on is not the best strategy. I think Sony is beginning to understand it horribly underinvested in security," Lieberman said. said.[89][90] On 29 May 2011, a group called Security announced[91] a campaign against Sony, using language emblematic of the Lulz Security the Anonymous Anonymous movement. On 2 June 2011, 2011, Sony Pictures Entertainment Entertainment was the subject of an attack, BitTorrent..[92] disclosing 1 million user passwords, which were then distributed via via BitTorrent Concept Marketing Strategy:
Strategic management decisions have multifunctional and multi- business consequences, this kind of decision require broad consideration of the firm’s external and internal environments, an d it may affect the firm’s chance of prosperity. It is important to know what strategy is about, what can it do help the company prosper, what will happen if n ot used properly, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having a strategy. Strategy is a plan that assimilates the company’s major target; policies and rules; decisions and sequences of action into organized whole. Strategy is a combination of thetocompany’s policies and as decisions to be customers. done in unison or contingent upon each other. Marketing a company’s or services strategy thus refers to h ow Using trade is presented consumersobjectives, in an effective manner to gain loyal Strategy can be used in different ways, one of which is through marketing. strategyproducts in marketing makesits it more convincing and effective. Strategy makes sure that nothing wrong happens in the marketing process in the company. Marketing strategy is a way to capture a niche in the consumer market. Businesses utilize it to gain following and exploit their maximum and/or optimal profit capabilities. Strategic marketing is the way company sells the product it has with less difficulty and more readiness to face competitors. Strategic marketing makes sure that the company uses all of its resources to counter its competitors. Strategic marketing planning is a procedure wherein the strategies used to sell product is carefully studied and analyzed so that the company can compete well and have advantage with rivals. Corporate Vs Competitors
All firms have strategic windows and some of these windows open out on to markets that are shared with other firms. Where windows share views views over the same market, competition exists. It is important to understand how different firms view the same market since their perceived and actual windows of opportunity will not all be the same. The nature of competition and the factors which influence it are explored along with how firms identify competitors and how they use product positioning to obtain a competitive advantage. Attention is paid to how firms define their marketing strategies and analyze the competitive positions of rivals. Consideration is given to the various sources of inform ation available to firms that enable them to gauge competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Success in the market place depends not only on the ability to identify customer wants and needs but also upon an ability to be able to satisfy those wants and needs better than that competitors are able to do. This implies that organizations need to look for ways of achieving a differential advantage in the eyes of the customer.
The differential advantage is often achieved through the product or service itself but sometimes it may be achieved through other elements of the marketing mix. An important thing the company should be wary is to understand competitors. Gaining knowledge against competitors helps in creating measures to gainand advantage againstknowledge competitors. Tothe know and to have depth knowledge of theofcompetitors, the company can use different kinds of strategy such as porter’s generic strategy. Determining having added about about competitors helpan in in planning marketing activities through distinguishing and forecasting what activities rivals may use and what strategy they might implement. Having added knowledge creates a way for the company to prepare for anything competitors might do and it helps in planning marketing activities that focus on having contingency measures against competitors. Sony although being a well known and successful company still uses strategic marketing planning that keeps the company alive in its industry. This strategic marketing planning keeps Sony alive against its competitors. Sony should still know and acquire all information they can with regards their competitors. The comp etitor’s activities, background and actions should be known by the company so that in planning marketing activities they know which thin gs will be done by the competitors, what kind of actions the competitors will do in certain situations, and what future things the competitors might do. Sony should not be complacent with the things they know about the competitors. They should strive to find out things about the competitors that cannot be visibly noticed. Through the use of certain strategies like porter’s generic strateg y the company might be able to know more about competitors and through such information they can plan strategies to conquer this competitors. Historically, Sony’s marketing strategy was to position itself as an innovator and a maker of high quality product s which enabled it to sell its products at a premium to their competitors. However that strategy is in disarray because it has ceded the perception of being an innovator to companies like Apple. The perception of high quality, while not diminished, has been largely equaled by its competitors.
SONY CORPORATION Sony Electronics as The Leading Consumer Electronics Company in The World.
Sony Corporation
Sony corporation is a multibillion company that is based in Tokyo, Japan. It is mostly involved in manufacturing of electronics, video, communications, video game console consoless and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.(Sony In Wikipedia, 2008) Moreover, this corporation has been involved in consumer electronics since the end of the world war 2, with their vast experienced and their involvement in the market has developed the company into one of the world's biggest and richest companies. Under the Sony Group name, Sony Corporation has more then 30 subsidiaries company in Japan itself and more then 50 affiliated companies outside of Japan. All of those affiliated companies range rangess from electronics company up to even chemical companies.(Sony Corporation subsidiaries, 2008)
Sony Electronics
Sony Electronics Inc. is one of the biggest subsidiaries of Sony Corporation of America, due to its role as US Sony based electronics and entertainment involvement. The Sony Electronics headquarters is based in San Diego, CA.(Sony Outline of Operation, 2008) In Europe, Sony's consumer electronics products and services are marketed through 19 sales subsidiaries including Sony United Kingdom Limited, Sony Deutschland G.m.b.H., and Sony France S.A. Sales of professional electronics products, electronic components, and services are made through several divisions, differentiated by product, covering all of Europe. Sony is engaged in the development, design, manufacture, and sale of various kinds of electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for consumer and professional markets in the "Electronics" business.(Deloitte, 2008)
Manufacturing:
Their principal manufacturing facilities are located in Japan, the U.S. and Mexico, Europe, and Asia. Like traditional OEMs, Sony are integrated manufacturers in that they have developed the skills and capabilities and are inclined to do everything in-house, from their design of the device to the fabrication of integrated circuits. But however, to relieve pressure on their manufacturing capacity, they have also often subcontracted some of their manufacturing work (particularly in PCB assembly) to the electronic contract manufacturers (ECMs) while retaining control over the bulk of the manufacturing and distribution work. The companies in which they subcontracted are companies that is in conduct u nder The Electronic Industry Code of Conduct (EICC). Moreover, Sony itself has their on code of conduct for they’re suppliers it is called “the Sony Supplier Code of Conduct, which is base d on the EICC, to ensure that suppliers understand Sony expectations in more detail.”(Sony Supply Chain manangement, 2008) Sony pursues procurement of raw materials, parts and components to be used in the production of it s products on a global basis on the most favorable terms that it can achieve. These items are purchased from various suppliers around the world. Generally, Sony maintains multiple suppliers for most significant categories of parts and compo nents.(Sony In Wikipedia, 2008) However, the restructuring and other movement in the semiconductor industry may cause the shortage of semiconductor supply and affect Sony's production and/or the cost of goods sold because Sony consumes a tremendous volume of semiconductor parts and components for its products. Marketing:
Sony's electronics products and services are marketed marketed throughout the world under the trademark "Sony", which has been registered in 204 countries and territories. Its products are marketed by sales subsidiaries and unaffiliated unaffiliated local distributors as well as direct sales via the Internet, throughout the world. In addition to internationalising its production operations, Sony has been promoting the transfer of research and development activities and management functions overseas to bring its overseas operations into closer proximity to local communities and markets. Moreover Sony Electronics are racing to challenge its competitors boutiquethe style outlets inand upscale locations the world.(Sony in Wikipedia, 2008) The company not in expect to sell a lot through itsInc. direct store. Instead, they all areof more interested inoneducating consumers letting them toaround experience products even if the visitors do not purchase thedoes product their store, the experience itself may lead the consumer to buy their products via other channels,(K-T Mak and A.Ramaprasa A.Ramaprasad, d, 2 003) such as retailers or the internet. Sony’s involvement in selling their products directly is channelled through their new online shop themed “Sony Style”. As an addition, this new “Sony Style” marketing strategy is actually giving the consumer experience and details of the product. Some of the products advertised in the site online are interactive diagram in which it will gi ve consumers a taste of what they are going to buy. On other
words, Sony is actually bringing their boutique style outlets to they’ re consumers home. However , this does not affects the roles of their retailer, in the united kingdom itself sony has more then 6000 authorised retail outlets.(Sony in Wikipedia, 2008) So, Sony is giving the benefits to both worlds of consumer and retailer. In most cases, sales of Sony's electronics products are made to sales subsidiaries of Sony Corporation located or responsible for sales in the countries and territories where Sony's products and services are marketed, and these subsidiaries sell products to local distributors and dealers. In some regions, sales of certain products and services are made directly to local distributors by Sony Corporation. After Sales Service:
Sony started their Customer Information Centre back in the early years of 1963 in Japan to take care of their customer inquiries.(Sony Responsiveness and Customer Car Care, e, 2008) Sony provides repair and servicing functions in the areas where its electronics products are sold. Sony provides these services through its own service centers,factories, centers,factories, authorized independent service centers, authorized servicing dealers,and its subsidiaries.In line with industry practice, almost all of Sony's electronic products sold in Japan carry a warranty, generally for a period of one year from the date of purchase, for repairs, free of charge, for malfunctions occurring in the course of ordinary use. In the case of broadcast- and professional-use products, Sony maintains support contracts with customers in addition to warranties. Overseas warranties warranties are generally provided for various periods of time depending on the product and the area where it is marketed. And now, the implication for their first customer information centre has open up more centres outside of Japan and is now available worldwide. Sony Service Locations (Fiscal 2006) Region Number of Repair Centres Japan 687 North America 1,316 Europe 1,624 East Asia[*4] 365 Pan-Asia[*5] 1,393 Latin America 661
[*4] Coverage area: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea [*5] Coverage area: Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa and Oceania (Sony Responsiveness and Customer Care, 2008)
Summary
In this world of the 21st centuries of high end technologies, Sony with no doubts will encounter intense competition throughout the world in each of its principal product lines. However, it is believed that Sony in the aggregate it competes successfully and has a major position in all of the principal product lines in which it is engaged, although the strength of its position varies with products and markets. In the Electronics business, Sony is known for its attractive product planning, the high quality of its products, its record of innovative product introductions and product improvements, and its extensive marketing and servicing efforts are important factors in maintaining its competitive position. Hence, making it one of the world’s leading electronics manufacturer.
