The origin of SONY
SONY established its European head office in the UK only later. Morita, who received the Honorary Gold Medal from Wangli Academy of Art, made the following speech at the award ceremony: "SONY has always been creating new things." After listening to this, the attendees felt that this sentence was full of mystery, and maybe some of them laughed secretly, I think SONY is just a typical example of success using European inventions. After Morita's eyes slowly scanned the audience, he continued: "The so-called new Lexi is the name 'SONY', which is also a new word in English like 'WALKMAN'." As soon as he said this, even in a serious The solemn venue, filled with British gentlemen, also caused a sudden burst of laughter. With the content of such a speech, members have proposed that Morita should be awarded an "honorary certificate of advanced English conversation", which shows that the British are a nation with a very big sense of humor.
The first product produced by SONY was the TR-52 radio developed using semiconductors for the first time in Japan, but the company name was not named like what Morita said in his speech in the UK. When TR-52 was exported to the United States, the name TORT-SUKO (ト-ッ-コ in Japanese) was used. It may be that Americans would not like the strict pronunciation, so they considered changing the brand name. This is just like the abbreviations used by TKK and Tokyu Subway. The abbreviations of NHK and CBS are similar to those of TV stations, which can easily leave an impression in the minds of the public. At that time, Dongtong sold self-developed audio and video recorder tapes under the name SONI-TAPE. The English SONICI (sound) is the plural form of the Latin SONUS from which the etymology originated. This SONI and the popular phrase "SONNY BOY" (cute little boy) at that time were combined into one, which is SONNY. However, in order to make it easy to pronounce, the letters were changed. Changed to four words, SONY, which is now famous all over the world, was born. The new semiconductor radio "TR-52" also began to shine with this new name. At that time, some office workers even ordered shirts with large pockets to hold semiconductor radios, which became popular all over the country. In 1958, the company was officially renamed "SONY Co., Ltd." and its shares were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Perseverance for the brand
Morita went to the United States for the first time with TR--52 engraved with the name "SONY", and sold it for US$29.95. It was sold in various retail stores, but it couldn't be sold. At this time, a "BURORBA company" ordered 100,000 units, but Morita refused. The main reason is that the company's conditions require SONY to use their trademark for sale in the United States. At that time, BURORBA was one of the few watch manufacturers in the United States, but Morita was unwilling to become a satellite factory. An employee of the company told Morita, "Our company has a history of more than 50 years and is a company with traditions." However, Morita responded politely: "Our company will definitely not lose to you in 50 years. It will definitely become famous." However, it didn't take fifty years for the results to be obvious. Only people who are interested in watches know BURORBA. Ironically, BURORBA watches from the 1950s are indeed very valuable now, because such watches can already be classified as antiques. In contrast, SONY has now become a world-renowned brand. "I don't feel sorry at all for rejecting such an order. On the contrary, I have confidence in my own brand." At that time, an order of 100,000 was like a dream, but Morita actually refused. Therefore, it is easy to understand Morita's mood when he found out that a chocolate manufacturer used the SONY name to launch products and filed a lawsuit. "Trademarks are the life of a company, and they must be protected even against all odds. This is how I think about it in normal times. Trademarks and company names must be held accountable to ensure product quality. Therefore, using a trademark established by others with little effort, It is also considered a kind of theft. We will never forgive such a thief.
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The End of Infancy
SONY advocates using “technology” as the symbol of its products. In order to protect this trademark, Morita insists on selling it himself, so a sales company must be established in the United States. . Therefore, American SONY (SONAM) was born in 1960. At the same time, SONY also reorganized its Geneva office in Switzerland and established the European On-site Sales Company (SOSA) in 1955. After the TR-63 was sold in 1957, SONY semiconductor radios became a worldwide best-seller. Faced with the influx of orders and customers who couldn't wait, SONY did not need to consider costs at all and shipped them directly by air. Sent to all over the United States. In this way, SONY ended its infancy in the eleventh year of its establishment, and laid the foundation for the flag-bearer of "Japan's Miracle Revival"
New Leader
After entering the 1980s, the BETA format of video tapes also entered the phase of elimination, thus casting a shadow on the Sony myth. Then Morita received the bad news of the sudden death of President Kazuo Iwama. , causing Sony's inventory to pile up, this was the first time since its establishment that it had to rely on cost reduction to balance its income and expenditure.
The president of this period was Norio Ohga. He was specially promoted at that time and took office in 1982. He was just over fifty. He was born on January 29, 1930 in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. His family was wealthy. He is a timber trader who was born as an opera singer and has a special experience. Although the reasons for BETA's failure cannot be specified, the biggest reason is the failure of software policy (referring to the main rivals between SONY's BETA and Panasonic's VHS). In the battle for the video recorder system, SONY ended in failure.) During the period when video tapes were rapidly increasing, BETA software had little growth. Therefore, the Japanese company VICTOR, which developed VHS, also participated in the production of movies, video tapes and other works. With CIC VICTOR, BACK IN MUSIC, etc. under its umbrella, the VICTOR industry has all the capabilities needed to produce movies; with such power, CBS can provide a handful of diverse possibilities. Software. After the passing of President Iwama, who was purely a technician, Chairman Morita promoted President Ohga mainly because Ohga was the manager who understood software best and had great expectations for Ohga to become the president. .
The first attempt of the SONY software department to establish CBS SONY was the idea proposed by Dahe. At the same time as the liberalization of foreign investment in 1967, the largest CBS record company in the United States was looking for investors in Japan. When CBS proposed this idea to Columbia Japan, it had not yet reached a conclusion. In the end, it chose SONY, which had actual achievements in the audio department and was very interested in software. This was a big deal for SONY. Good thing. If you have a record department, it can directly enhance the company's audio capabilities in the minds of the world. Therefore, negotiations began in October 1967, and the relevant agreement to merge the companies was soon signed in December. CBS SONY was formally established in 1968, with Dahe as the actual person in charge.
The success of laymen practicing business law
With huge companies as its backers, CBS SONY is closely guarded by the recording industry and officials responsible for supervision. According to Japan's Administrative Guidance Act, SONY is not allowed to increase the company's personnel, such as record relations personnel, artists, etc., through poaching. Dahe recruited talents through an unprecedented open recruitment method, regardless of academic qualifications, age, and gender. A total of 7,000 people signed up, and among the 80 people admitted, there were no so-called "industry personnel." CBS SONY, formed by laymen, ushered in a revolutionary era for the ancient record industry with its rational approach.
Following this, Sony, which gained support from big stars and established an SD department, established a unique recruitment system and many artists were born. Cultivating artists from scratch has created a high-profit system for CBS SONY.
SONY canceled the stylus
NAGAOKA is the first manufacturer that provides 80% of the stylus in the Japanese industry. I believe that those who have a little knowledge of records should be familiar with it. However, the disbandment of NAGAOKA in August 1990 was also the end of EP and LP records. SONY cooperated with Philips of the Netherlands to develop CDs, which was the eighth year after SONY was founded. The CD turntable was launched in October 1882. Five days before this, Dahe flew to Greece with the newly completed CD to hold meetings with record companies around the world. However, the response from the record industry at that time, including CBS Records in the United States, was very lukewarm. For LP record companies that already had a mature market, CDs would not attract much attention. The industry's view is that there will not be a record store on the market that will be willing to sell records and CDs at the same time. As we all know, CDs have much better sound quality than records, and are small in size and easy to operate. The sound is read from the CD optically without contact, so the service life can be said to be close to semi-permanent.
Although CDs have many advantages, the record industry is not very willing to cooperate in order to protect the existing record market, so it is still not noticeable. In other words, at this stage, software must be relied upon to provide the fuse for CD discs, and CBS SONY is the one that exerts its power at this time. CBS, which has grown into a popular brand, has exerted a powerful effect. In terms of hardware, the world's first CD machine "DISKMAND-50" was launched in 1984. After SONY attacked the market with a powerful software strategy, the sales of CDs were like a volcanic eruption. After it started to take off in Japan, the popularity of CDs slowly spread throughout the world. In the end, CDs drove traditional records out of the market. Dahe later said that if it weren't for CBS, CDs might not be popular at all. So SONY once again realized the importance of software. After experiencing the defeat of the BETA system and the victory of CD, SONY finally gradually valued software.
In 1987, CBS SONY acquired its parent company, CBS, for a total of US$2 billion (approximately 270 billion yen at the exchange rate at the time). Although some people criticized the purchase price as being too high at the time, after CBS entered the SONY Group, it achieved a turnover above the purchase price in the second year, and achieved quite high profits. Sony, which had successfully acquired companies, began to pay attention to the currency market in the imaging field, and wanted to come to the United States to investigate American film companies.