Sony’s History -- Through The Eyes of the Company’s Leaders

Sony was founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. The two complemented each other with a unique blend of
product innovation and marketing savvy, and formed a company that would eventually grow into a more than $60 billion
global organization.

In 1950, in post-war Japan, Ibuka and Morita created Sony’s first hardware device, a tape player/recorder called the G-
TYPE recorder. Materials were in such high demand that the first tapes were made of paper with hand painted magnetic
material applied by Sony’s first engineers.

Ibuka was a practical visionary who could foretell what products and technologies could be applied to everyday life. He
inspired in his engineers a spirit of innovation and pushed them to reach beyond their own expectations. Ibuka also fostered
an exciting working atmosphere and an open-minded corporate culture. In the founding prospectus, he wrote of his wish to
build a company whose employees gained satisfaction and pleasure from their work and his desire to create a fun, dynamic
workplace.

Through Ibuka’s persistence, the magnetic tape recorder evolved from the G-TYPE recorder into the Model P (for
"Portable"), which became the company’s first profitable product.

In 1953, the company earned licensing rights to the transistor from Western Electric. Ibuka urged his engineers to improve
production methods with the goal of creating a consumer product, the transistor radio. In 1955, the TR-55, Japan’s first
transistor radio was launched. And, in 1957, Sony released the world’s first pocket transistor radio, establishing a market
leadership position for the company.

Akio Morita was a true marketing pioneer who was instrumental in making Sony a household name all over the world. He
was determined to establish the Sony brand. In fact, he turned down an order of 100,000 radios from Bulova because they
wanted the radios to carry Bulova’s name. Morita responded to Bulova saying, "Fifty years from now, I promise you that our
name will be just as famous as your company name today." His words could not have been more prophetic.

And it was after Morita’s first trip to the United States that he suggested to Ibuka that the company name be changed from
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo to one that was easily pronounceable and recognizable. The company name "Sony" was created by
combining two words. One is "sonus" in Latin, which is the root of such words as "sound" and "sonic." The other is "sonny"
meaning little son. The words were used to show that Sony is a very small group of young people who have the energy and
passion toward unlimited creation.

Video innovation was also a priority for Sony engineers. The road towards building a high quality color television set was
quite a struggle, but on October 15, 1967, a new cathode-ray tube was completed. The new color television was named
Trinitron® - derived from the word "trinity," meaning the union of three, and "tron" from electron tube. Since its introduction
in 1968, the Trinitron television has set the standard for picture quality and design.

As a proponent of global localization, Morita familiarized himself with local economies and set up manufacturing plants all
over the world. When Sony constructed a Trinitron® color television assembly plant in San Diego, California, in 1972, it
became the first Japanese-based consumer electronics manufacturing facility in the United States.

Further, without Morita, the world would never have known the Walkman® personal stereo. His excitement and faith in the
product’s future success was the true driving force behind its existence.

At first, the Walkman was poorly received by retailers. Eight out of ten Sony dealers were convinced that a cassette player
without a recording mechanism had no real future. However, the product’s compact size and excellent sound quality
attracted consumers and, ultimately, ignited the personal audio revolution.

Kazuo Iwama was a detail-oriented person, admired for his scientific knowledge and discipline. He was made president of
Sony in 1976, and became thoroughly involved in developing the "charged coupled device" or CCD which paved the way
for the camcorder and digital still camera. While he was president, Sony launched the Betamax® video cassette recorder.
His tenure ended with his passing away in 1982, but not before the launch of the compact disc player – another Sony
innovation that changed the way people listened to music.

Norio Ohga was responsible for bringing Sony into the modern age and injecting it with a unique sense of style through
product planning, stylish product design and innovative marketing. During his tenure from 1982 to 1995, Sony was
transformed from an electronics company into a total entertainment company through the establishment of the music,
pictures and gaming businesses.

Sony acquired CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, which today form Sony Music Entertainment (SME)
and Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) – two of the world’s largest content producers. SME has produced a string of best-
selling albums from artists such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Pearl Jam.
Blockbuster films from SPE include Sleepless in Seattle, Jumanji, Air Force One, Men in Black and Stuart Little.

Through Ohga’s persistence, the Sony PlayStation® game console was launched in Japan in 1994 with only eight titles. (It
was launched worldwide in 1995.) Software companies were initially reluctant to support Sony’s new format because
Nintendo and Sega were already firmly established. However, with PlayStation and, most recently, PlayStation2, Sony has
become the most successful game manufacturer ever.

Nobuyuki Idei, current Chairman and CEO, played a key role in moving Sony into the digital network era by emphasizing
the integration of AV and IT products. He was responsible for Sony’s image campaign, "Do you dream in Sony?" and
helped coin the term "digital dream kids." The premise of the campaign was to provide shareholders, customers,
employees, and business partners who come into contact with Sony with the opportunities to create and fulfill their dreams.

Idei is credited with reinventing Sony’s business model for the networked society. By complementing Sony’s core
competencies with partnerships and collaborations from other companies, Sony is on its way to becoming a Broadband
Entertainment Company.

Sony Corporation’s current President and COO Kunitake Ando is in charge of Sony’s global electronics operation.
Previously, he was responsible for Sony’s introduction of the VAIO® personal computer in 1996, and helped Sony become
one of Japan’s leaders in information technology products.

Sony: The Leader in Product Innovation

The new millennium is here and Sony has plenty to celebrate. The company’s approach – doing what others don’t – has
paid off, in the form of great products that people covet.

Throughout its history, Sony has demonstrated an ability to capture the imagination and enhance people’s lives. The
company has been at the cutting edge of technology for more than 50 years, positively impacting the way we live. Further,
few companies are as well positioned to drive the digital age into homes and businesses around the world for the next 50
years and beyond.

Sony innovations have become part of mainstream culture, including: the first magnetic tape and tape recorder in 1950; the
transistor radio in 1955; the world’s first all-transistor TV set in 1960; the world’s first color video cassette recorder in 1971;
the Walkman personal stereo in 1979; the Compact Disc (CD) in 1982; the first 8mm camcorder in 1985; the MiniDisc (MD)
player in 1992; the PlayStation game system in 1995; Digital Mavica camera in 1997; Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player in
1998; and the Network Walkman digital music player in 1999.

Today, Sony continues to fuel industry growth with the sales of innovative Sony products, as well as with the company’s
convergence strategy. Examples include: VAIO notebooks that raise the bar in both form and function; digital cameras that
capture pictures on a floppy disk, CD-R or Memory Stick; a handheld device that lets you store and view photos as well as
moving photo; MiniDisc recorders with a digital PC Link to marry high quality digital audio with downloadable music;
DVD/CD multi-disc changers that playback both audio and video; digital network recorders that pause, rewind and fast-
forward "live" television using a hard-disc drive; and Hi-Scan flat screen TVs that deliver near HDTV picture quality through
Digital Reality Creation (DRC) circuitry.

But Sony is not just the market leader in consumer electronics.

Through research and development, the company has made considerable inroads in the areas of professional broadcasting
(with the creation of the Betacam, DVCAM, HDCAM and 24P formats); mobile communications (with digital phones and the
CLIE handheld); PCs (with VAIO notebook and desktop computers); storage and media (with the invention of the floppy
disk, AIT and DTF drives, and the Memory Stick) and, now, the Internet.

Sony’s future brand success will be determined by how the company meets the challenges of change. Sony has always led
the market in terms of innovation. But in a digital networked world, products will no longer be developed with just hardware
in mind. The convergence of technologies – consumer electronics, computing and telecommunications – is a reality, with
new competitors forming and consumer mindshare up for grabs.

Broadband Network Era

Sony is a corporation with convergence at its very heart. Driven by an integrated business model, the company is well
positioned to bring new benefits to consumers by combining hardware, software, content and services.

Sony’s approach is to make it possible for consumers to enjoy various forms of content on both "home networks," consisting
of connected electronic devices, and "mobile networks" that are accessible through mobile terminals.

Products such as the i.LINK® interface and Memory Stick® digital storage media provide greater connectivity between
digital devices and will help create seamless home and personal networks.

From a hardware perspective, Sony’s strategy is focused on four gateways to the networked world: 1) Digital televisions
and set-top boxes; 2) VAIO personal computers; 3) Mobile devices, such as the CLIE handheld devices and digital phones;
and 4) PlayStation2 game consoles.

The company’s software strategy includes the development of new audio-visual applications designed to personalize
technology. Recent examples include updated Open MG Jukebox music management software, and digital video editing
products, such as PictureGear, MovieShaker and DVGate.

Sony’s vision is to give consumers easy, ubiquitous access to entertainment and information anytime, anywhere – no
matter whether the content comes from cable, satellite, terrestrial, packaged media or the Internet.

In the company’s view, the Internet is an "e.Playground" where consumers can collect, share and manage everything from
data and text information, to digital images, movie clips and music. The result: New ways to enjoy Sony products.

Sony is also giving consumers new reasons to visit the Internet, including the recent launch of SonyStyle.com, a new
information rich, e-commerce site for everything Sony. Designed to build a closer relationship between Sony and its
customers, the site will offer a variety of commerce, content, community and connectivity options planned for the near
future.

Other new service offerings include www.ImageStation.com and www.eMarker.com. ImageStation.com helps consumers
create, share and enjoy digital pictures and video. The service offers free online albums and eCards, and members can
share their favorite pictures as gifts, keepsakes and high-quality prints in a variety of sizes. Select Sony hardware and
accessories are also available for purchase in the ImageStation.com store.

eMarker.com is an online service that puts an end to the most frustrating part of hearing a song on the radio -- not knowing
the title or the artist’s name. By pressing the button on the tiny eMarker device, people can "eMark" songs they hear on the
radio and locate the information through the site.

Sony has been at the forefront of the movement to help consumers adopt digital lifestyles, which, in a broadband network
era, means helping them maximize the power and control found within digital technology.

However, even in this broadband network era, one fact about Sony remains the same: the company’s fundamental
philosophy of providing products that are fun to use.

Sony’s vision is not necessarily about refrigerators talking to toasters. It’s about bringing to market products that capture the
imaginations of consumers and enhance their lives in the process.

In the future, look for Sony to create entirely new forms of entertainment, blending movies, computer generated worlds,
games and music. Sony has the vision, technology and content to forge a direction in consumer entertainment that no other
company can match.

Promoting a World Class Brand

The phenomenal strength of the Sony brand worldwide is surely a testament to the company’s reputation for producing
innovative products of exceptional quality and value. And while traditional brand theory says brand essence should be
narrowed down to one element, Sony celebrates brand diversity -- with the Trinitron, VAIO and Walkman sub-brands, to
name just a few, each connecting with consumers across various lifestyle segments.

Sony has the brand recognition and marketing savvy to create new product categories and revitalize mature ones. Look no
further than what the company did with the Walkman brand and for the MiniDisc format.

Sony, the company that changed the way the world listens to music with the introduction of the Walkman personal stereo,
again set its sights on transforming the portable music landscape when it kicked off a comprehensive, integrated marketing
campaign to relaunch the Walkman brand in June 2000.

Titled "The Walkman Has Landed," the marketing campaign, which included broadcast, print and online advertising; Internet
and dealer events/promotions; and grassroots consumer and public relations components; strategically communicated the
lifestyle attributes of the Sony Walkman line to generation Y, its primary target market.

Additionally, the campaign brought together an entirely new product line up comprised of CD Walkman, MD Walkman and
Network Walkman personal digital audio players.

The company knew that it needed to reinvent the Walkman brand for today’s younger, more digitally inclined music lovers.
(To many, the brand had become generic, representing "older," analog-based cassette technology.) Sony promoted a new
Walkman ideology based on personal freedom, independence, imagination and creativity in a way that appealed to new
techno-savvy, style-conscious consumers who favor digital downloading and ripping CDs.

The star of the television commercial from the campaign is an alien character named Plato, who is "quintessentially diverse
and knows how to have fun." His persona offers Gen Y a bit of humor and a good dose of enjoyment.

Another example of Sony’s ability to reposition itself and its products is found in the MiniDisc. A huge success in Japan,
where it has become the dominant recording format, MD did not become a success in the U.S. until it was marketed as a
digital music player that could record from the Internet. With its inexpensive media and versatility (units are capable of
recording Internet music, tracks from personal CD collections and favorite songs off the radio), MD has become a gen Y
favorite. U.S. sales have increased by more than 40% since the MD to PC link was introduced.

However, the company doesn’t just rely on brilliantly executed advertising campaigns to secure consumer attention. The
company utilizes world class public relations to enhance Sony’s value, reputation and brand image. Communications
campaigns are conducted on both an individual product and strategic platform basis. This process ensures exposure for the
 company’s most important products as well as for the company’s role in key industry issues that cross multiple product
categories and disciplines, including electronic music distribution and digital television.

Brand Values
When remarking about the importance of the Sony brand name, consider this quote from Chairman of the Board, Norio
Ohga: "In April of every year a large number of new employees join the company. And what I always say to them is that we
have many marvelous assets here. The most valuable asset of all are the four letters, S, O, N, Y. I tell them, make sure the
basis of your actions is increasing the value of these four letters. In other words, when you consider doing something, you
must consider whether your action will increase the value of SONY, or lower its value."

In the minds of consumers, Sony is one of the world’s greatest brands -- the company was once again rated the number
one brand in the U.S. by the 2000 Harris poll. As noted, much of the brand equity Sony enjoys is rooted in product
innovations.

However, to ensure the future of its brand, the company recently embarked on an extensive, company-wide initiative in the
U.S. designed to foster a common understanding of the Sony brand among employees, customers and consumers. The
project, dubbed Being Sony, was necessitated because of expansive company growth, an influx of new employees, and
converging business opportunities.

Sony executives felt the need to clearly articulate the meaning and values inherent in the Sony brand (to both internal and
external constituencies), while re-examining the unique relationship of the brand in American culture.

Despite involvement in disparate businesses, the company’s desire is to leverage the brand beyond the products -- the
primary touchpoint with consumers, and add to the brand’s value by re-focusing it to the outside world.

In essence, Sony, the box manufacturer, is being replaced by a new Sony – a customer-centric entity centered around
broadband entertainment, yet driven by the venture spirit of Sony’s founding days.

We Help Dreamers Dream

Sony is a company devoted to the CELEBRATION of life. We create things for every kind of IMAGINATION. Products that
stimulate the SENSES and refresh the spirit. Ideas that always surprise and never disappoint. INNOVATIONS that are easy
to love, and EFFORTLESS to use, things that are not essential, yet hard to live without.

We are not here to be logical. Or predictable. We’re here to pursue INFINITE possibilities. We allow the BRIGHTEST minds
to interact freely, so the UNEXPECTED can emerge. We invite new THINKING so even more fantastic ideas can evolve.
CREATIVITY is our essence. We take chances. We EXCEED expectations. We help dreamers DREAM.

Things You Didn’t Know About Sony

• Sony’s first product was a rice cooker

• Sony establishes its first major overseas operation in New York City (514 Broadway) in 1960 with a capital
investment of $500,000
• Sony becomes the first Japanese company in the United States to make a public offering of 2 million shares of
common stock in the form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) in 1961.
• In 1986, Walkman was included in the Oxford English Dictionary

• Before the Walkman personal stereo became a worldwide brand name, it was introduced under a variety of
names, including the Soundabout in the U.S., the Stowaway in the UK and the Freestyle in Australia

Sony Repositinoning Strategy

Sony Corporation of America is the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony

Corporation. Based on Inglewood, California, it is a company under which all Sony
companies operate here in United States. Sony Electronics Inc., a Sony Corporation
company, produces and sells all kinds of electronics ranging anything from wireless
headphones and mp3 players to hi-fi systems and computers; Sony Electronics Inc makes
it all. Established in 1960, this company has grown to be a huge company today, with
nearly $46 billion in sales. With this continuous increase in the size of company, Sony
has introduced many different product lines. Among them notebooks is one of them.
Sony launched its VAIO series of notebooks in 1996. Since then it has gained a
respectable position in the field of notebook computers. VAIOs are known for their
attractive design, great functionality and high quality.
However, VAIO's market position has not been as satisfactory as the company would like
to see it. Therefore, the company has to use a suitable market repositioning strategy in
order to place itself on top of all other competing brands. We can see from the
positioning table that VAIO falls under expensive and quality notebook brands. But we
can also see from the same figure that it has a very little market capture with regards to
the quality of the products it provides. The main reason indentified by the researchers
regarding this issue is price. VAIOs are generally much more highly priced than other
brands of notebooks. This is again due to the level of quality of product. But the
consumers are not always rational when it comes to quality and price. They generally
tend to place the price on top of the buying criteria followed by quality, ease of use,
compatibility among others.
So, because of this poor competitive performance, a successful repositioning strategy for
Sony should be analyzed. As we said earlier, the main factor for small market capture of
Sony VAIO notebooks is identified to be...

Sony Branding Strategy

1 Sony
Sony is the kind of company that constantly launches so many great products that
engineers and designers for competing companies must get little rest at night. The Sony is
primarily focused on the Electronics (such as AV/IT products & components) and Game
(such as PlayStation) and Entertainment (such as motion pictures and music).
2 Sony History
Sony was founded in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. The two complemented
each other with a unique blend of product innovation and marketing savvy, and formed a
company that would eventually grow into a more than $60 billion global organization.
Since 1946, when Masaru Ibuka started Sony, it has rocketed into electronics and
entertainment consumers' minds as the brand. Beginning right after the end of the war as
it did, one of Sony's founding purposes was "to reconstruct Japan and to elevate the
nation's culture." It's no small wonder that, with such lofty original goals, Sony has
become an iconoclastic global brand.
Sony innovations have become part of mainstream culture, including: the first magnetic
tape and tape recorder in 1950 and the introduction of the Walkman personal stereo in
1979 which changed the way the world listens to music. Another example of Sony
innovation is on the creation of the new color television which was named Trinitron® -
derived from the word "trinity," meaning the union of three, and "tron" from electron
tube. Since its introduction in 1968, the Trinitron television has set the standard for
picture quality and design.
3 Sony Name Origin
Akio Morita was a true marketing pioneer who was instrumental in making Sony a
household name all over the world. He was determined to establish the Sony brand. And
it was after Morita's first trip to the United States that he suggested to Ibuka that the
company name be changed from Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo to one that was easily
pronounceable and recognizable. The company name "Sony" was created by combining
two words. One is "sonus" in...

Sony Repositinoning Strategy

Sony Corporation of America is the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony

Corporation. Based on Inglewood, California, it is a company under which all Sony
companies operate here in United States. Sony Electronics Inc., a Sony Corporation
company, produces and sells all kinds of electronics ranging anything from wireless
headphones and mp3 players to hi-fi systems and computers; Sony Electronics Inc makes
it all. Established in 1960, this company has grown to be a huge company today, with
nearly $46 billion in sales. With this continuous increase in the size of company, Sony
has introduced many different product lines. Among them notebooks is one of them.
Sony launched its VAIO series of notebooks in 1996. Since then it has gained a
respectable position in the field of notebook computers. VAIOs are known for their
attractive design, great functionality and high quality.
However, VAIO's market position has not been as satisfactory as the company would like
to see it. Therefore, the company has to use a suitable market repositioning strategy in
order to place itself on top of all other competing brands. We can see from the
positioning table that VAIO falls under expensive and quality notebook brands. But we
can also see from the same figure that it has a very little market capture with regards to
the quality of the products it provides. The main reason indentified by the researchers
regarding this issue is price. VAIOs are generally much more highly priced than other
brands of notebooks. This is again due to the level of quality of product. But the
consumers are not always rational when it comes to quality and price. They generally
tend to place the price on top of the buying criteria followed by quality, ease of use,
compatibility among others.
So, because of this poor competitive performance, a successful repositioning strategy for
Sony should be analyzed. As we said earlier, the main factor for small market capture of
Sony VAIO notebooks is identified to be...
[Hide]
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Sony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 This article contains Japanese text. Without
proper rendering support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and
kana.

Sony Corporation
ソニー株式会社

Public
Type TYO: 6758
NYSE: SNE
Consumer electronics
Industry
Entertainment
Founded 1946 in Japan[1]
Masaru Ibuka
Founder(s)
Akio Morita
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Area served Worldwide
Howard Stringer (Chairman, President & CEO)[1],

Ryoji Chubachi (Vice Chairman),

Key people

Nobuyuki Oneda (Executive Vice President and

CFO)

Consumer & professional electronic

equipments
Communication & information-related
equipments
Semiconductor
Electronic devices & components
Products
Battery
Chemicals
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Music
PlayStation
Blu-Ray
 Financial services
Services
Internet service
Revenue ▲ ¥7.730 trillion / $79.618 billion (2009)[2]
Operating income ▼ ¥ −227.8 billion / $2.087 billion (2009)[2]
Net income ▼ ¥ −98.9 billion / $1.019 billion (2009)[2]
Total assets ▲ $230.5 billion (2009)
Total equity ▲ $50 billion (2009)
Employees 180,500 (as of March 2008)[1]
Subsidiaries List of the subsidiaries
Website Sony.net

Sony City, Sony Corporation Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo

The Sony Building in the Ginza area of Chūō, Tokyo

Sony Corporation (commonly referred to as Sony) (Japanese: ソニー株式会社 Sonī

Kabushiki Gaisha?) (TYO: 6758) is a multinational conglomerate corporation
headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media
conglomerates with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S.
(FY2008).[2] Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video,
communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the
consumer and professional markets. Its founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived
the name from sonus, the Latin word for sound, and also from the English slang word
'sonny', since they considered themselves to be 'sonny boys', a loan word into Japanese
which in the early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men.[3]

Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony
Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments – electronics,
games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. These
make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's
principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.),
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment,
Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the
Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. The company's current slogan is
make.believe[4]
Contents
[hide]

• 1 History
o 1.1 Origin of name
• 2 Products, technologies and proprietary formats
• 3 Management
o 3.1 Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures
o 3.2 Manufacturing base
• 4 Controversy
o 4.1 Fictitious movie reviewer
o 4.2 Malicious software (spyware)
o 4.3 Digital Rights Management
o 4.4 Controversial advertisements
o 4.5 Legal
o 4.6 Laptop batteries dysfunction
o 4.7 CCD
o 4.8 Virtualization disabled on VAIO laptops
• 5 Environmental record
o 5.1 Improvement efforts
o 5.2 Green TV
o 5.3 Criticism
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading

• 8 External links

[edit] History

Masaru Ibuka, the co-founder of Sony

In late 1945, after the end of World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a
bomb-damaged department store building in Nihonbashi of Tokyo. The next year, he was
joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin
Kogyo K.K.,[5] (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company
built Japan's first tape recorder called the Type-G.[5]

In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs'
invention of the transistor.[5] He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his
Japanese company. While most American companies were researching the transistor for
its military applications, Ibuka and Morita looked to apply it to communications.
Although the American companies Regency and Texas Instruments built the first
transistor radios, it was Ibuka's company that made them commercially successful for the
first time.

In August 1955, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo released the Sony TR-55, Japan's first
commercially produced transistor radio.[6] 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 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
advertising 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.[5] The following year, 1957, Tokyo Tsushin
Kogyo came out with the TR-63 model, then the smallest (112 × 71 × 32 mm) transistor
radio in commercial production. It was a worldwide commercial success.[5]

University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., 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's headquarters moved to Minato, Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo around the end of
2006.[7][8]

[edit] 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 Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK.[5] 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 Morita discovered
that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name.[9]
The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin
word Sonus which is the root of "sonic" and "sound" and the other was "sonny," a
familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy.[3] The first Sony-branded product, the
TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name didn't change to Sony
until January 1958.[10]

At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use
Roman letters instead of kanji to spell its name. The move was not without opposition:
TTK's principal bank at the time, 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 not want the company name tied to any particular industry.
Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval.[5]

[edit] Products, technologies and proprietary formats

Further information: List of Sony 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 videotape format war of the early
1980s, when Sony marketed the Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the
VHS format developed by JVC. In the end, VHS gained critical mass in the marketplace
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
component video format called Betacam that was derived from Betamax is still used
today, especially in the film and television industry.

In 1968 Sony introduced the Trinitron brand name for its line of aperture grille cathode
ray tube televisions and (later) computer monitors. Trinitron displays are still produced,
but only for markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India 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 Betamax videocassette recording format in 1975. In 1979 the
Walkman brand was introduced, in the form of the world's first portable music player.

1982 saw the launch of Sony's professional Betacam videotape format and the
collaborative Compact Disc format. In 1983 Sony introduced 90 mm micro diskettes
(better known as 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy 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" floppy disks. 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 MSX, a home computer system, and
introduced the world (with their counterpart Philips) to the Compact Disc or CD. In 1984
Sony launched the Discman series which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD
products. In 1985 Sony launched their Handycam products and the Video8 format.
Video8 and the follow-on hi-band Hi8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder
market. In 1987 Sony launched the 4 mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital
audio tape standard.

Sony Discman

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 (WO) and in 1988 launched Magneto-optical discs which were
around 125MB size for the specific use of archival data storage.[11]

In the early 1990s two high-density optical storage standards were being developed: one
was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other
was the Super Density disc (SD), supported by Toshiba and many others. Philips and
Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with only
one modification based on MMCD technology, viz EFMPlus. The unified disc format
was called DVD which was marketed in 1997.

Sony introduced the MiniDisc format in 1993 as an alternative to Philips DCC or Digital
Compact Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its
own audio compression technologies under the ATRAC brand, against the more widely
used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's Network Walkman line of digital portable music
players did not support the MP3 de facto standard natively, although the provided
software SonicStage would convert MP3 files into the ATRAC or ATRAC3 formats.
Sony's BRAVIA series HDTV

In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format
with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called
SDDS (Sony 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) 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.

The Slimline PlayStation 2

In 1998, Sony launched their Memory Stick format; flash memory cards for use in Sony
lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of
Sony's own products with Secure Digital cards (SD) commanding considerably greater
popularity . This is due in part to the SD format's greater throughput (which allows faster
devices), higher capacities, and significantly lower price per unit capacity compared to
Memory Sticks available at the same time. Sony has made updates to the Memory Stick
format with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Micro.
Sony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips digital interface format (S/PDIF) and
the high-fidelity audio system SACD. The latter has since been entrenched in a format
war with DVD-Audio. At present, neither has gained a major foothold with the general
public. CDs are preferred by consumers because of ubiquitous presence of CD drives in
consumer devices.

In 1994 Sony launched the PlayStation (later PS one). This successful console was
succeeded by the PlayStation 2 in 2000, itself succeeded by the PlayStation 3 in 2006.
The PlayStation 2 has become the most successful video game console of all time. It has
sold a total of over 140 million units and still going. The PlayStation brand was extended
to the portable games market in 2005 by the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and in 2009, the
PSP go. Sony developed the Universal Media 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.

Sony's retail store, Sony Style

Sony VAIO fashion show in 2008

In 2004, Sony built upon the MiniDisc format by releasing Hi-MD. Hi-MD allows the
playback and recording of audio on newly-introduced 1 GB Hi-MD discs in addition to
playback and recording on regular MiniDiscs. Recordings on the Hi-MD Walkmans can
be transferred to and from the computer virtually unrestricted, unlike earlier NetMD. In
addition to saving audio on the 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 ATRAC 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 Blu-ray Disc optical disc format, which eventually emerged as the market leader over
the competing standard, Toshiba's HD 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 Sony BDP-S1, debuted in 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
Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks.[12][13][14] 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.

On 10 September 2007 Sony unveiled Rolly, an egg-shaped digital robotic music player
which has colour lights that flash as it “dances” and has flapping wings that can twist to
its tunes. Movements along with the music downloaded from personal computers and
Bluetooth can be set. Rolly, which went on sale in Japan on 29 September 2007, has one
gigabyte of memory to store tunes. Sony also developed dog-shaped robots called AIBO
and humanoids and QRIO.[15]

In summary, Sony has over the years introduced these standards: Umatic (~1968),
Betamax (1975), Betacam (81), Compact Disc (82), 3.5 inch Floppy Disk (82), Video8
(85), DAT (87), Hi8 (88), Minidisc (~90), Digital Betacam (~90), miniDV (92), Memory
Stick (98), Digital8 (99), PSP Universal Media Disc (~2003), HDV (~2004), Blu-ray
Disc (2006).

[edit] Management

Sony's current CEO, president and chairman Sir Howard Stringer

On 22 June 2005, Nobuyuki 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, Corporate Executive Officer, Vice Chairman and COO Sony Entertainment
Business Group. Sony's decision to replace Idei with the British Howard Stringer marked
the first time that a foreigner has run a major Japanese electronics firm. On the same date,
Kunitake Ando stepped down as President and was replaced by Ryoji Chubachi.[16]
[edit] Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures

This section requires expansion.

Further information: List of acquisitions by Sony Corporation

[edit] Manufacturing base

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.[17]

Global slowdown affects this year, Sony Corp suffered its first annual loss in 14 years
and could be grimmer in upcoming years too.[18]

On 9 December 2008, Sony Corp. said it will cut 8,000 jobs, drop 8,000 contractors and
reduce its global manufacturing sites by 10% to save $1.1 billion a year.[19].

[edit] Controversy
This article's Criticism or Controversy section(s) may mean the article does not
present a neutral point of view of the subject. It may be better to integrate the
material in those sections into the article as a whole. (August 2009)

[edit] Fictitious movie reviewer

In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a fictitious
film critic, David Manning, who gave consistently good reviews for releases from Sony
subsidiary Columbia Pictures, which generally received poor reviews amongst real
critics.[20]

[edit] Malicious software (spyware)

Main article: Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal

In October 2005, it was revealed by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals that Sony BMG's
music CDs had installed a rootkit on the user's computer as a DRM measure (called
Extended Copy Protection by its creator, British company First 4 Internet), which was
difficult to detect or remove.[21] 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 a 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.[22] On 31 January 2007, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission issued a news
release announcing that Sony BMG had agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission
charges that Sony BMG committed several offenses against United States federal law.
This settlement required that Sony BMG allow consumers to exchange the CDs through
30 June 2007, and to reimburse consumers for up to $150 for the repair of damage to
their computers that they may have incurred while removing the software.

[edit] Digital Rights Management

In 2006 Sony started using ARccOS 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.[23]

In August 2007, security firm F-Secure reported that the MicroVault USB thumb drive
installs a rootkit in a hidden directory without consent on user computers. The directory
is intended to protect fingerprint data, however it can be used for malicious means as
most virus scanners will not search for the directory or its contents.[24] Sony advised it
was conducting an investigation on the third-party product, and would offer a fix by mid-
September.[25]

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 Alejandro 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.[26]

[edit] Controversial advertisements

Sony admitted in late 2005 to hiring graffiti artists to spray paint advertisements for their
PlayStation Portable game system in seven major U.S. cities including New York City,
Philadelphia, and San Francisco.[27] The mayor of Philadelphia filed a cease and desist
order. According to Sony, they paid businesses and building owners for the right to
graffiti their walls.[28] As of early January 2006, Sony had no plans to keep or withdraw
them.

In July 2006, Sony released a Dutch advertising campaign featuring a white model
dressed entirely in white and a black model garbed in black. The first ad featured the
white model clutching the face of the black model. The words "White is coming"
headlined one of the ads. The ad has been viewed as racist by critics.[29] A Sony
spokesperson responded that the ad does not have a racist message, saying that it was
only trying to depict the contrast between the black PSP model and the new ceramic
white PSP. Other pictures of the ad campaign include the black model overpowering the
white model.[30]

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 PSP through viral 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 YouTube and 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 website for "the facts
on the PSP". The site has since been taken down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony
admitted that the idea was "poorly executed".[31]

[edit] Legal

In 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America, marketer of the popular PlayStation

game consoles, was sued by Immersion Corporation of San Jose, 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 in March 2005 and not
only agreed with the federal jury's ruling but also added another US$8.7 million in
damages. This is likely the reason that the Sixaxis controller for the PlayStation 3 had no
rumble feature. The DualShock 3 has since been made available for the PlayStation 3,
reintroducing rumble capabilities. Microsoft Corp. was also sued for its Xbox controller,
however, unlike Sony, they settled out of court so they could continue using the
technology for the follow-up Xbox 360.[32]

A California judge ordered Sony to pay Immersion a 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.[citation needed]

[edit] 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 Apple Japan for over ¥2 million ($16,700 USD)
regarding the incident. The suit argues that the man suffered burns on his finger when the
battery burst into flames while being used, and his wife had to be treated for mental
distress due to the incident.[33]

On 14 August 2006, Sony and Dell admitted to major flaws in several Sony batteries that
could result in the battery overheating and catching fire. As a result they recalled over 4.1
million laptop batteries in the largest computer-related recall to that point in history. The
cost of this recall is being shared between Dell and Sony. Dell also confirmed that one of
its laptops caught fire in Illinois.[34][35] This recall also prompted Japan's Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry to order the companies to investigate the troubles with the
batteries. The ministry said they must report on their findings and draw up a plan to
prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under consumer safety laws.
[36]

Ten days later on 24 August 2006, Apple Computer recalled 1.8 million Sony built
batteries after receiving nine reports of batteries overheating, including two customers
who suffered minor burns, and additional reports of property damage.[37]

On 19 September 2006, Toshiba announced it was recalling 340,000 Sony laptop

batteries.[38] This recall, however, is not related to the recalls by Apple and Dell, as the
batteries are known to cause the laptops to sometimes run out of power. No injuries or
other accidents have been reported, according to Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Omori.[39]

On 23 September 2006, Sony announced its investigation[40] of a Lenovo ThinkPad T43

laptop which overheated and caught fire in Los Angeles International Airport on 16
September, an incident that was confirmed by Lenovo. On 28 September 2006, Lenovo
and IBM made the global recall of 526,000 laptop batteries.[41]

On 28 September 2006, Sony announced a global battery exchange program in response

to growing consumer concerns.[42]

On 2 October 2006, Hewlett-Packard (HP) determined that it was not necessary for them
to join the global battery replacement program.[43]

On 3 October 2006, the Yomiuri Shimbun (a Japanese Newspaper) reported that Sony
was aware of faults in its notebook PC batteries in December 2005 but failed to fully
study the problem.[44][45]

On 16 October 2006, Fujitsu announced it was recalling 278,000 Sony laptop batteries.[46]
It was also reported that Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Hitachi may seek compensation from Sony
over the battery recalls.[47]

On 25 April 2007, Acer announced that 27,000 batteries from TravelMate and Aspire
series notebooks sold from May 2004 to November 2006 were recalled due to 16 reports
of overheating and explosions.[48]

On 24 August 2007, it emerged that some of Sony's batteries that were not recalled, and
in use on Dell laptop computers, may be at risk of catching fire and exploding; as another
case of a Dell laptop with a Sony battery in it, came to light.[49]

On 30 October 2008, the recall of an additional 100,000 batteries produced by Sony was
announced by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba due to around forty cases of batteries
overheating being reported globally.[50]

[edit] CCD
Initially, in October 2005, it was reported by Sony that there were problems with the
charge-coupled devices (CCD) in 20 models of digital still cameras. The problems can
prevent the cameras from taking clear pictures, and in some cases, possibly prevent a
picture to be 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 did indicate that they will 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 manufacturer's 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.[51]

[edit] Virtualization disabled on VAIO laptops

Previously Sony has disabled hardware virtualization on their high end VAIO laptops.
This means that the Windows 7 operating system as well as virtualization software such
as VMWare, VirtualBox and others are unable to make use of Intel's or AMD's
virtualization technology embedded in their CPUs. Sony's senior manager for product
marketing, Xavier Lauwaert, responded that "our engineers and QA people were very
concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code".[52]

However, with the new BIOS that are being released, most of the new laptops are now
officially being enabled with this feature. This includes Vaio Z models with BIOS
R2170M3 and R4043M3.[53]

[edit] Environmental record

Sony has received numerous awards and much recognition for their environmental efforts
throughout the world. Their achievements in the way of energy and environmental
conservation have earned them respect for their green campaign[54] despite bad press from
a low ranking on Greenpeace's greener electronics report.[55]

[edit] Improvement efforts

Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference.[56] 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 their suppliers in a process that they call "green procurement".[57]
Sony has said that they have signed on to have about 75 percent of their Sony Building
running on geothermal power. The "Sony Take Back Recycling Program" allows
consumers to recycle the electronics products that they buy from Sony by taking them to
eCycle (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 living
creatures work. This is the most powerful small biobattery to date.[58]
[edit] Green TV

For sale in Japan on 30 July, 2008, Sony's green product, new flat-panel 32-inch
(810 mm) TV 150,000 yen (US$ 1,400; € 900) Bravia KDL-32JE1 offers ecological
consumers advantages of less energy consumption (70% less) than regular models with
the same image quality. Sony was able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions totaling 79
kilograms (174 pounds) a year, without 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 broadcast capabilities.[59][60][61]

[edit] Criticism

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 toxic chemicals contained in their
merchandise.[62] In early July 2007, Sony ranked 14th on the Greenpeace chart "Guide to
Greener Electronics." This chart graded major electronics companies on their
environmental work. Sony fell from its earlier 11th place ranking due to Greenpeace's
claims that Sony had double standards in their waste policies.[63]

In 2005, it was made public that the videogame Full Spectrum Warrior, developed by
Sony Pictures Imageworks and Pandemic Studios, was paid for in whole by the United
States Department of Defense, for use as an urban combat trainer. Not only was the
simulation never used as intended, but the Army lost its full investment while Pandemic
Studios went on to release the simulation, now an entertainment game, through THQ and
it became a success. The wisdom of the Army's contract with both Sony and Pandemic
was questioned in the press at the time.

Sony portal

This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji and kana.

Sony Corporation
ソニー株式会社

Public
Type TYO: 6758
NYSE: SNE
Consumer electronics
Industry
Entertainment
Founded 1946 in Japan[1]
Masaru Ibuka
Founder(s)
Akio Morita
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Area served Worldwide
Howard Stringer (Chairman, President & CEO)[1],

Ryoji Chubachi (Vice Chairman),

Key people

Nobuyuki Oneda (Executive Vice President and

CFO)

Consumer & professional electronic

equipments
Communication & information-related
equipments
Semiconductor
Electronic devices & components
Products
Battery
Chemicals
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Music
PlayStation
Blu-Ray
Financial services
Services
Internet service
Revenue ▲ ¥7.730 trillion / $79.618 billion (2009)[2]
Operating income ▼ ¥ −227.8 billion / $2.087 billion (2009)[2]
Net income ▼ ¥ −98.9 billion / $1.019 billion (2009)[2]
Total assets ▲ $230.5 billion (2009)
Total equity ▲ $50 billion (2009)
Employees 180,500 (as of March 2008)[1]
Subsidiaries List of the subsidiaries
Website So

• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers