Sony Timeline

Sony 48

1946 First product — a failed rice cooker Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo's first product attempt is an electric rice cooker — a simple device with an aluminium pot and wooden tub. It fails: the cooker cannot reliably produce well-cooked rice, sometimes producing undercooked or overcooked results. The team abandons it. This early failure is instructive: Ibuka and Morita pivot rapidly to what they know — electronics and radio repair. Their first successful product is a radio frequency transducer for the NHK broadcasting corporation.
1946 Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo founded in a bombed-out department store Masaru Ibuka, 38, and Akio Morita, 25, found Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) on 7 May 1946 in a bombed-out department store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, with 20 employees and 190,000 yen in capital. Japan is still under American occupation; the country is devastated. Their founding prospectus reads: 'We shall welcome technical difficulties and focus on highly sophisticated technical products.' The two men are a perfect partnership — Ibuka the brilliant engineer, Morita the visionary salesman.
1950 First tape recorder in Japan Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo produces Japan's first magnetic tape recorder — the Type-G — in 1950. The company manufactures its own magnetic tape using cellophane coated with ferric oxide powder. The Type-G is large, heavy and expensive — but it is the first of its kind in Japan and establishes the company's reputation for innovation. The Japanese Education Ministry becomes an early customer, using the recorders in schools. Revenue stabilises and the team grows to 120 people.
1952 Morita travels to America — transistor licence Akio Morita travels to the United States in 1952 and negotiates a licence from Western Electric to manufacture transistors — the revolutionary solid-state amplifying device invented at Bell Labs in 1947. The licence costs $25,000 — an enormous sum for the young company. Western Electric assumes the Japanese will use transistors for hearing aids. Morita and Ibuka have a far more ambitious vision: a pocket-sized transistor radio that anyone can carry anywhere.
1955 TR-55 — Japans first transistor radio Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo launches the TR-55 in August 1955 — Japan's first commercially produced transistor radio. It is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket (just barely — Morita reportedly had shirts made with slightly larger pockets for demonstrations) and runs on batteries. The TR-55 is a sensation. The same year, the company renames itself Sony — a combination of 'sonus' (Latin for sound) and 'sonny' (American slang for a bright young man) — choosing a name that sounds the same in every language.
1957 TR-63 — worlds first pocket transistor radio Sony launches the TR-63 in 1957 — the world's first genuinely pocket-sized transistor radio, small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. Akio Morita travels to the United States and sells 100,000 units to Bulova, which offers to brand them as Bulova radios. Morita refuses — he insists the Sony name appears on every product. The TR-63 establishes Sony as an international brand and demonstrates Morita's extraordinary marketing instinct. Sony transistor radios sell 1.5 million units in the United States in 1957 alone.
1960 First Sony transistor television Sony launches its first transistor television — the TV8-301 — in 1960, the world's first commercially available all-transistor TV. At 8 inches diagonal, it is compact enough to be portable. The TV8-301 sells for $249 — roughly $2,500 in today's money — and targets American consumers who want a second television set for the bedroom or kitchen. It is a critical product: it establishes Sony in the television market that will become its largest business for two decades.
1961 Sony lists on the New York Stock Exchange Sony becomes the first Japanese company to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961, issuing American Depositary Receipts. The listing is a landmark in Japanese corporate history and in Sony's international expansion. Morita subsequently moves his family to New York to manage Sony's American operations personally — an unusual move for a Japanese executive of the era and a reflection of his conviction that Sony must be seen as a global, not Japanese, company.
1964 Sony at the Tokyo Olympics — global showcase Sony's video equipment is used extensively at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics — the first Games to be broadcast live via satellite to the world. Sony provides video cameras and recording equipment, giving the company enormous international exposure. The Tokyo Olympics are a showcase for Japan's postwar recovery, and Sony — with its miniaturised electronics and precision manufacturing — embodies the Japanese economic miracle. The company's international reputation receives a decisive boost.
1967 Trinitron — the television revolution Sony launches the Trinitron colour television in 1967 — a fundamentally new cathode ray tube technology that produces brighter, sharper colour images than anything previously available. The Trinitron uses a single electron gun with an aperture grille rather than the shadow mask used by RCA and other manufacturers. The picture quality is visibly superior. Sony wins an Emmy Award for the Trinitron in 1973 — the only time a consumer electronics company has won an Emmy for a product. The Trinitron defines Sony's television supremacy for thirty years.
1968 Sony opens US manufacturing — San Diego Sony opens its first American manufacturing facility in San Diego, California in 1972 — the first Japanese television manufacturer to produce televisions in the United States. The move is partly a response to US trade pressure and partly Morita's conviction that a truly global company must manufacture where it sells. The San Diego plant produces Trinitron televisions and becomes a model of Japanese manufacturing quality transplanted to American soil.
1971 U-matic — first video cassette format Sony introduces the U-matic videocassette format in 1971 — the world's first commercially available video cassette recorder using a cassette tape rather than open-reel tape. U-matic becomes the standard for professional broadcast and educational video. Sony, JVC and Matsushita agree to share the U-matic standard — a cooperation that will not be repeated when the VHS vs Betamax war erupts five years later. U-matic is the direct ancestor of every cassette video format that follows.
1975 Betamax — video recorder for the home Sony launches Betamax in 1975 — the first video cassette recorder designed for home use. Betamax is technically superior to the rival VHS format developed by JVC: it has better picture quality, a more compact cassette and a more reliable mechanism. But VHS cassettes hold longer recordings (up to 6 hours vs Betamax's 5 hours, later extended), and JVC licenses VHS to more manufacturers. The Betamax-VHS format war becomes the defining case study in technology standards battles. VHS wins by 1987.
1976 VHS vs Betamax — the format war JVC launches VHS in 1976, one year after Betamax. Panasonic, Hitachi, Sharp and other major manufacturers license VHS; Sony keeps Betamax largely proprietary. The crucial difference: VHS initially offers 2-hour recording (later extended to 6) to Betamax's 1-hour (later 5). Rental video stores find VHS more practical for movies. By 1980 VHS has 60% market share; by 1987 it is effectively over. Sony's defeat in the format war is its first major strategic failure and the origin of its subsequent obsession with owning content as well as hardware.
1979 – 1985 Walkman dominates — 50 million sold The Walkman becomes the defining consumer product of the 1980s, selling 50 million units in its first decade. Sony produces hundreds of Walkman variants — sports models, underwater models, solar-powered models, models for children. The word 'Walkman' enters dictionaries as a generic term for personal stereos. Sony's competitors produce their own personal stereos but Sony's manufacturing quality, design sophistication and brand strength allow it to maintain a price premium. The Walkman generates more profit for Sony in the 1980s than any other product.
1979 The Walkman — music goes personal Masaru Ibuka, frustrated that the bulky tape recorder he carries on long plane journeys is too heavy, asks Sony engineers to make a tape player small enough to fit in a jacket pocket. The result — the TPS-L2, launched on 1 July 1979 — changes how humans relate to music. The Walkman is the first device to allow private listening while moving through public space. Sony's marketers initially doubt it will sell without a recording function; Morita insists. First-month sales of 30,000 units (planned: 5,000) prove him right.
1982 The Compact Disc — audio reinvented Sony and Philips jointly develop and launch the Compact Disc in 1982 — the first digital audio format for consumers. The first CD player, the Sony CDP-101, sells for $1,000. The first CD pressed is ABBA's 'The Visitors.' CD quality — no hiss, no scratches, no degradation — is an immediate revelation to audiophiles. The CD format becomes the most successful audio format in history, generating enormous revenues for both hardware manufacturers and music labels. Sony's decision to develop CD jointly with Philips — sharing the standard — is a direct lesson from the Betamax defeat.
1984 Sony acquires CBS Records — content strategy begins Sony acquires CBS Records for $2 billion in 1987 — one of the largest acquisitions in the music industry to that point, giving Sony ownership of Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand and the entire CBS Records catalogue. The acquisition is the first expression of Morita's conviction that hardware and content must be combined: 'software and hardware are two sides of the same coin.' Sony CBS Records (later Sony Music Entertainment) becomes one of the world's two largest record labels.
1988 Sony acquires Columbia Pictures for $3.4 billion Sony acquires Columbia Pictures Entertainment — including Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures — for $3.4 billion in 1989. The acquisition gives Sony ownership of a Hollywood studio, a film library containing thousands of titles including Lawrence of Arabia, Ghostbusters and the Bond films (distribution rights), and a path to combining its hardware with the content that plays on it. The deal is widely derided in America as Japanese over-reach. Sony pays too much, suffers enormous write-downs in the early 1990s, but ultimately creates enormous long-term value through the Columbia library.
1989 Sony peaks — most admired company in the world In the late 1980s, Sony is widely considered the most admired company in the world. Its market capitalisation exceeds $45 billion. The Sony brand commands premium prices in every product category. Morita's 1986 book 'Made in Japan' is an international bestseller. Sony's combination of innovative hardware and now content makes it a model that Western companies aspire to imitate. The Sony Walkman is in 150 million pockets; the Trinitron television is in hundreds of millions of living rooms. The peak will not be sustained.
1992 Masaru Ibuka retires — Morita has stroke Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka retires from the board in 1992. The following year, Akio Morita suffers a severe stroke playing tennis that effectively ends his active role in the company. The loss of both founders within a year removes the visionary leadership that had driven Sony for four decades. Morita dies in 1999. Without its two founders, Sony's culture of bold innovation and creative risk-taking gradually gives way to a more conservative, bureaucratic management style.
1993 Columbia Pictures write-down — $3.2 billion loss Sony writes down $3.2 billion on its Columbia Pictures acquisition in 1994 — one of the largest corporate write-downs in history at the time. The Hollywood studio has been plagued by expensive box office failures and management dysfunction under executives Jon Peters and Peter Guber. The write-down wipes out several years of Sony's profits and reinforces the perception that Japanese companies cannot manage American creative businesses. Sony replaces the management and the studio eventually becomes profitable, but the early years are a painful lesson.
1994 PlayStation — Sony enters gaming The original PlayStation launches in Japan on 3 December 1994, developed by Ken Kutaragi — an engineer who had worked on the sound chip for Nintendo's Super Famicom. Sony enters the video game market after a failed collaboration with Nintendo on a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. Nintendo abandons the project; Sony decides to launch its own console. The PlayStation's 32-bit processor, CD-ROM format and developer-friendly architecture attract third-party game developers away from Nintendo's cartridge-based N64. Sony sells 7 million PlayStations in its first year.
1995 – 1997 PlayStation conquers the world The PlayStation launches in North America in September 1995 and Europe in September 1995. With exclusive titles including Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid, and a cool adult marketing identity far removed from Nintendo's family image, PlayStation redefines video gaming. By 1997 it has sold 20 million units globally — far outpacing Sega Saturn and positioning Sony to dominate a generation of gaming. The PlayStation is the most successful product launch in Sony's history.
1997 Final Fantasy VII — games become art Final Fantasy VII, released for PlayStation in 1997 (Japan) and 1997 (US), is a landmark in video game history: a cinematic role-playing epic with a 40-hour story, orchestral music and a narrative complexity that demonstrates games can aspire to the emotional depth of film and literature. It sells 11 million copies. More importantly, it cements PlayStation's dominance of the RPG genre and pulls Nintendo's core audience — Japanese RPG fans — firmly into Sony's ecosystem.
2000 PlayStation 2 — the best-selling console ever The PlayStation 2 launches in Japan on 4 March 2000 — and becomes the best-selling video game console in history, with 155 million units sold over its 13-year production run. Its built-in DVD player makes it many households' first DVD player, driving DVD format adoption. Its library of over 4,000 games includes Grand Theft Auto III, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War and Metal Gear Solid 2. The PS2 is Sony's greatest single product success.
2001 Sony vs Microsoft — Xbox enters gaming Microsoft launches the original Xbox in November 2001, entering the console market with enormous resources and a determination to displace PlayStation. Xbox Live (2002) introduces online console gaming to the mainstream. Microsoft's entry begins a platform competition that will define the next two decades of gaming. Sony's PlayStation 2 comfortably outsells the original Xbox, but Microsoft's presence in gaming permanently changes the competitive landscape.
2003 Sony Ericsson — mobile phone partnership Sony and Ericsson form a 50-50 joint venture — Sony Ericsson — in 2001, merging Sony's consumer electronics expertise with Ericsson's mobile telecommunications technology. The partnership produces the T68i — the first phone with a colour screen and the precursor to the W-series Walkman phones and Cybershot camera phones. Sony Ericsson captures 9% of the global handset market by 2007. But like Nokia, it fails to respond adequately to the iPhone.
2004 PSP — PlayStation goes portable Sony launches the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in December 2004 in Japan, March 2005 in North America — the most powerful handheld gaming device ever made at the time. The PSP features a stunning 4.3-inch widescreen display, UMD disc format and Wi-Fi connectivity. It sells 80 million units lifetime but ultimately fails to displace Nintendo DS in the handheld market. The PSP's successor, the PS Vita, is a commercial failure — ending Sony's handheld gaming ambitions.
2005 Sony laptop batteries spontaneously combust In 2006, Sony is forced to recall 9.6 million laptop batteries — manufactured for Dell, Apple, HP and others — after reports of batteries spontaneously combusting. The recall costs Sony $429 million and severely damages its reputation as a quality manufacturer. The battery crisis reveals manufacturing quality problems that were previously hidden and accelerates the erosion of Sony's premium brand positioning. It is the most embarrassing product failure in Sony's history.
2006 PlayStation 3 — too expensive, too late The PlayStation 3 launches in November 2006 at $499–$599 — far more expensive than Nintendo's $250 Wii and Microsoft's $299–$399 Xbox 360. The PS3's Cell processor and Blu-ray drive make it technically ambitious but manufacturing-cost prohibitive. Sony loses $250 on every PS3 sold at launch. The Wii's motion controls capture the casual gaming market; Xbox 360's one-year head start gives Microsoft's console a large exclusive game library. PS3 eventually recovers but the generation is the first PlayStation has not clearly won.
2007 Blu-ray wins the HD disc war The Blu-ray vs HD DVD format war — the second great Sony format battle after Betamax vs VHS — ends in Sony's favour in February 2008 when Warner Bros., the last major studio backing both formats, announces exclusive support for Blu-ray. Sony's decision to include a Blu-ray drive in the PS3 — forcing the format into 50 million living rooms — proves decisive. Unlike Betamax, Sony wins this format war. But the victory arrives just as Netflix streaming is beginning to make physical media irrelevant.
2007 iPhone launches — Sony misses the smartphone revolution Apple launches the iPhone in January 2007. Sony, which had pioneered portable music with the Walkman and had years of experience combining music players with mobile phones through Sony Ericsson, is perfectly positioned to lead the smartphone era. It does not. Sony Ericsson's response to the iPhone is slow, its Android devices undifferentiated, its music and content ecosystem fragmented. The company that invented the Walkman watches Apple create the device that kills it.
2008 Samsung overtakes Sony as worlds largest TV maker Samsung overtakes Sony to become the world's largest television manufacturer in 2006 — ending Sony's 30-year dominance of the global TV market. Samsung's LCD panels, produced in-house at lower cost than Sony can achieve, allow aggressive pricing that Sony cannot match. Sony's Trinitron CRT technology, once its greatest competitive advantage, is now a liability as the market shifts to flat-panel LCD. Sony's TV division loses money for a decade. The moment marks the beginning of Sony's decline from its peak.
2011 PlayStation Network hack — 77 million accounts compromised Sony's PlayStation Network is hacked in April 2011 — one of the largest data breaches in history at the time, compromising the personal information of 77 million accounts including names, addresses, email addresses and potentially credit card numbers. Sony takes PSN offline for 23 days. The breach costs Sony over $170 million in direct costs. The reputational damage is severe; Sony faces lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions. The hack exposes serious security vulnerabilities in Sony's online infrastructure.
2012 Kaz Hirai becomes CEO — One Sony strategy Kazuo Hirai becomes Sony CEO in April 2012, replacing Howard Stringer who had led the company since 2005. Hirai announces the 'One Sony' strategy — restructuring the sprawling conglomerate around three core businesses: gaming (PlayStation), mobile (Sony Xperia smartphones) and imaging. He sells Sony's Vaio PC business to Japan Industrial Partners, spins off the TV division and announces 10,000 job cuts. One Sony is Sony's most decisive restructuring in decades.
2013 PlayStation 4 — Sony reclaims gaming leadership The PlayStation 4 launches in November 2013, directly competing with Microsoft's Xbox One. Sony makes every correct decision that Microsoft makes wrong: the PS4 is priced at $399 vs Xbox One's $499; Sony imposes no restrictions on used games; and Sony's E3 announcement video mocking Xbox One's DRM policies goes viral. PS4 sells 1 million units in its first 24 hours. By 2020 it sells 113 million units — reclaiming PlayStation's dominant position in the console market.
2014 Sony Pictures hack — North Korea Sony Pictures Entertainment is hacked in November 2014 by a group subsequently identified as the Lazarus Group, acting on behalf of North Korea — apparently in retaliation for the Seth Rogen comedy The Interview, which depicts the assassination of Kim Jong-un. Terabytes of internal data are stolen and released, including unreleased films, executive emails and employee personal information. Sony initially cancels The Interview's theatrical release under terrorist threats, then releases it online. The hack is the most serious cyberattack on an American corporation to that point.
2015 Sony image sensors — the hidden monopoly Sony's image sensor business — making the CMOS sensors inside almost every smartphone camera in the world — emerges as one of the company's most valuable and strategically important divisions. Sony controls approximately 50% of the global smartphone image sensor market. Apple's iPhone cameras use Sony sensors; so do most Android phones. As camera quality becomes the primary differentiator for premium smartphones, Sony's sensors become indispensable. The imaging business is Sony's most profitable hardware division and its most durable competitive advantage.
2016 PlayStation VR — virtual reality mainstream attempt Sony launches PlayStation VR in October 2016 — the most accessible virtual reality headset available, requiring only a PlayStation 4 rather than a high-end gaming PC. PSVR sells over 5 million units, making it the best-selling VR headset of its generation. Despite solid sales, VR does not become the mainstream gaming platform Sony hoped for. PSVR 2 follows in 2023 for PlayStation 5, with eye tracking and adaptive haptics — again well-received but not mainstream.
2017 Sony Music and streaming — catalogue goldmine Sony Music Entertainment — owner of one of the world's two largest music catalogues alongside Universal — transitions successfully to the streaming era. As Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube pay billions in streaming royalties annually, Sony Music's catalogue of Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan (catalogue acquired 2021) and thousands of others generates growing revenues. Sony acquires the remaining 50% of EMI Music Publishing in 2018 for $2.3 billion, adding the Beatles' publishing catalogue to its holdings.
2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Sony Pictures reinvented Sony Pictures releases Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in December 2018 — an animated superhero film with a revolutionary visual style that wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film's critical and commercial success signals a creative renaissance at Sony Pictures. The subsequent animated Spider-Man films, the Venom series and Sony's deal with Marvel to include Spider-Man in the MCU collectively rebuild Sony Pictures' reputation after years of box office disappointments.
2020 PlayStation 5 launch — supply crisis The PlayStation 5 launches on 12 November 2020 — the most powerful gaming console ever made, with an ultra-high-speed SSD, ray tracing support and the revolutionary DualSense controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Demand vastly exceeds supply: global chip shortages mean Sony cannot produce enough PS5 consoles for two years. Scalpers resell PS5s at double their retail price. Despite the supply crisis, PS5 reaches 50 million units sold by mid-2024.
2021 Sony acquires Bungie for $3.6 billion Sony announces the acquisition of Bungie — creators of Halo and Destiny — for $3.6 billion in January 2022, Sony's largest gaming acquisition. The deal is partly a response to Microsoft's shock announcement of its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Bungie gives Sony a major live-service games developer and expertise in online multiplayer games — an area where PlayStation has historically been weaker than Xbox. Sony commits to keeping Destiny available on multiple platforms.
2022 Sony market cap approaches $150 billion — the comeback Sony's market capitalisation approaches $150 billion in 2022 — a remarkable recovery from the dark years of 2011–2012 when the company was posting billions in losses annually. Sony's diversified portfolio — PlayStation gaming, image sensors, music publishing, film and television — has proven far more resilient than the hardware-only model that once defined it. CEO Kenichiro Yoshida's strategy of focusing on 'emotion and entertainment' has repositioned Sony as a creative technology company.
2023 Sony image sensors power AI cameras worldwide Sony's semiconductor division — particularly its image sensors — continues to grow as AI-powered cameras proliferate in smartphones, autonomous vehicles, security systems and industrial applications. Sony's Starvis sensors, optimised for low-light photography, are used in virtually every premium smartphone. The automotive sensor business grows rapidly as car manufacturers add cameras for driver assistance systems. Sony's sensor monopoly is one of the most durable competitive positions in technology.
2024 PlayStation — 500 million consoles sold across all generations Sony's PlayStation brand reaches the cumulative milestone of 500 million consoles sold across all generations — PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 and PS5. PlayStation is the most successful video game console brand in history. The PlayStation Network has over 110 million monthly active users. PlayStation Studios — the group of first-party game developers Sony has assembled — produces some of the most acclaimed games of the generation: God of War Ragnarök, Spider-Man 2, Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part I.
2025 Sony Honda Mobility — Afeela electric vehicle Sony and Honda launch their joint electric vehicle venture — Sony Honda Mobility — with the Afeela 1 EV entering pre-production in 2025. The Afeela incorporates Sony's entertainment systems, image sensors and AI software with Honda's automotive engineering. The vehicle features 45 cameras and sensors and runs entertainment content from Sony Pictures and PlayStation. It is Sony's most ambitious hardware product launch since the PlayStation and the most visible symbol of its transformation from consumer electronics maker to entertainment technology company.