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Sony ソニー

Started in a bombed-out department store

Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita started Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering in 1946, in a war-damaged department store in Nihonbashi. They built Japan's first tape recorder and a pocket transistor radio, then the Walkman and the PlayStation.

Founded
1946
Shōwa 21
Founder
Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita
Started in
Tokyo
Status
Still trading
Age 80 years

Timeline

  1. 1946 (Shōwa 21)

    Tokyo Tsūshin Kōgyō is founded.

  2. 1955 (Shōwa 30)

    Launches the TR-55, Japan's first transistor radio.

  3. 1958 (Shōwa 33)

    Renames itself Sony.

  4. 1979 (Shōwa 54)

    Launches the Walkman portable cassette player.

  5. 1994 (Heisei 6)

    Launches the PlayStation in Japan.

Years in brackets are the Japanese era year. Japanese era converter →

Did you know?

Sony comes from sonus, Latin for sound, and "sonny", a word for a young boy.

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Dates follow the companies' own published histories where available. Trademarks belong to their owners; this page is not affiliated with any company listed.