Sony

Sony Corporation was established on 7 May 1946 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan, by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita under the name Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company was founded with initial capital of ¥190,000 and eight employees, and its earliest work included building Japan's first tape recorder. In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony — derived from the Latin word sonus and the American slang term "sonny" — to facilitate global expansion and establish an internationally recognisable brand identity.

Sony's product history includes a number of significant firsts. The TR-55, launched in 1955, was the company's first transistor radio. In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman portable audio player, fundamentally changing how people listened to music. The company played a central role in developing the compact disc format, the 3.5-inch floppy disk, and later the Blu-ray disc. In 1994, Sony entered the video games market with the launch of the PlayStation. The company also expanded significantly into entertainment media, acquiring CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989.

Today Sony operates as Sony Group Corporation, a holding company restructured in 2021, with consumer electronics continuing under Sony Corporation. The company's product portfolio spans televisions, home cinema projectors, Blu-ray players, cameras, headphones, soundbars, and professional AV equipment.