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Sony Electronics company history timeline

1960

In January 1960, Morita went to New York accompanied by Masayoshi Suzuki, who had joined Sony the year before.

After the transfer of $500,000, Sony Corporation of America was established on February 15, 1960.

On November 1, 1960, the Sony Atsugi plant was completed.

In 1960, transistor output reached one million units a month.

1962

When the company opened its store on Fifth Avenue in 1962, it unfurled the first Japanese flag to be flown in the United States since the beginning of World War II.

1970

In September 1970 Sony became the first Japanese company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1971

In 1971, Masaru Ibuka handed the position of president over to his co-founder Akio Morita.

1979

Sony began a life insurance company in 1979, one of its many peripheral businesses.

The Tape-corder later spawned the famous Walkman, which launched with much fanfare in 1979.

1980

Sony introduced the original 3.5-inch floppy disk in 1980, adapting to the trend toward greater storage capacity.

1986

morita, akio. made in japan, akio morita and sony. new york: dutton, 1986.

1989

Ohga would succeed Morita as chief executive officer in 1989.

1990

The Sony USA Foundation, Inc. funds both national and local projects in education; environment; health and welfare; minority affairs; civic initiatives; and arts and culture. It also sponsors Community Involvement Councils run by employees and the Sony Student Project Abroad program, which has sent 350 American high school students to Japan every year since 1990.

1994

All Sony facilities in this country adhere to a corporate Environmental Action Plan adopted in 1994.

1996

In 1996 Sony's overall sales in Japan increased by 24.9 percent, in the United States by 9.4 percent, in Europe by 16.4 percent, and in other regions by 8.6 percent, with expanded sales in Asia.

1997

Stringer joined Sony in 1997 as president of the company’s American subsidiary.

Internationally, sales to the United States were $15.9 billion, up 28.2 percent from 1997; Japanese sales accounted for $14.0 billion, up 15.9 percent over 1997; and Europe had sales of $11.9 billion, up 20.1 percent over 1997.

In 1997 its Columbia/Tri Star division also released the hit films Men in Black and My Best Friend's Wedding.

Information technology would be emphasized as the company's key development component. Its president, Nobuyuki Idei, and chairman, Norio Ohga, wrote to shareholders in the 1997 annual report about the future direction of the company, including Sony America.

1998

partyka, jeff. "sony, fuji develop 200mb floppy drive with complete backward compatibility." emedia professional, february 1998.

In 1998, Sony discovered that the British supermarket chain Tesco was buying Sony products from a third party and selling them at a discount.

Looking towards the teenage market, in 1998 Sony introduced the Freq (pronounced "freak"), a smaller and cheaper version of its Walkman mini AM/FM cassette player that features a see-through case with bold graphics.

2005

In 2005, Howard Stringer replaced Nobuyuki Idei as chief executive officer, marking the first time that a foreigner has run a major Japanese electronics firm.

2009

In a bid to provide a unified brand for its global operations, Sony introduced a slogan known as “make.believe” in 2009.

2014

In February 2014, Sony announced the sale of its Vaio PC division to a new corporation owned by investment fund Japan Industrial Partners and spinning its TV division into its own corporation as to make it more nimble to turn the unit around from past losses totaling $7.8 billion over a decade.

In May 2014 the company announced it was forming two joint ventures with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group to manufacture and market Sony’s PlayStation games consoles and associated software in China.”

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Sony Electronics history FAQs

Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Sony Electronics, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Sony Electronics. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Sony Electronics. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Sony Electronics. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Sony Electronics and its employees or that of Zippia.

Sony Electronics may also be known as or be related to Sony Corporation of America, Sony Electronics, Sony Playstation Network and Sony Playstation.