Looking for something original in the history of the founding of Sony is more useless than writing numbers on flowing water, as the Japanese would put it. Like other successful enterprises, Sony started with a small initial capital ($500 is not a significant amount) and several people united by one idea.

But the history of Sony's development itself deserves close attention.

Now Sony Corporation is a large transnational corporation producing high-tech electronics.

TVs, cameras, video cameras, game consoles, smartphones, e-books– this is not a complete list of products that have won the trust of amateurs and professionals.

Sony Corporation is a division of the Sony Group holding company and is also involved in its management. Other subsidiaries of the holding are engaged in film production (Sony Pictures Entertainment owns the film studios TriStars Pictures and Columbia Pictures), are responsible for the music sector (Sony Music Entertainment), the financial sector (Sony Financial Holdings), etc.

• The corporate headquarters is located in Tokyo.
• The CEO is Kazuo Hirai, who took over this post in 2012.
• The total number of employees worldwide is about 170,000 people.
• Sony Corporation's market capitalization is $17.6 billion, and its sales are more than $78 billion (Forbes data as of May 2013).
• In 2013, the Sony brand was recognized as one of the most influential at home (4th place in Japan’s Best Global Brands) and throughout the world (5th place in the Top Global Meaningful Brands Index).
• The Sony brand is consistently popular among our compatriots, appearing in the list of “Russians’ Favorite Brands” either in second (2011) or third (2010, 2012) line.

It's hard to believe, but initially, to avoid drawing attention to the country of origin, Sony printed the words "Made in Japan" in small font on export products. Once, customs even “wrapped” their products because the microscopic inscription was not visible!

The company was “hiding” because cheap Japanese products (paper umbrellas, toys, etc.) gave goods from the Land of the Rising Sun a bad reputation in the West.

However, Sony Corporation managed not only to overcome this stereotype, but also to turn the words “Made in Japan” into a guarantee of high quality!

How did you manage to achieve this?

The company was founded on May 7, 1946 by 38-year-old engineer Masaru Ibuka and 25-year-old physicist, and was then called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation).

Masaru and Akio knew each other since the war, when they worked together in a group of scientists who worked for the benefit of the army.

In the new company, the founding fathers applied the rule of “divide and conquer.” Being a true technical genius, Ibuka became closely involved in the development of new products, while the enterprising Morita took up solving sales issues.

In his book of memoirs “Made in Japan,” Akio admitted that meeting Masaru turned out to be one of the greatest gifts of fate for him.

At first there were only 20 employees on staff. Could they imagine , that after decades the company’s staff will increase 8000 times?!

Despite the increased number, even now Sony employees perceive each other as one family. In this they adopted the philosophy of Akio Morita, a brilliant manager who knew how to unite and mobilize the team to accomplish assigned tasks.

He understood very well that “no matter how lucky you are... smart or dexterous, your business and its fate are in the hands of the people you hire.” Morita sought to know each employee personally and, to strengthen working relationships, interacted almost daily with young lower-level managers during lunch.

The company structure was also strengthened by the lifelong employment system, revived by the United States at Japanese enterprises in the post-war period. But since Sony has always differed from other Japanese enterprises in its openness to new ideas and flexibility, the company's management took into account the needs of workers, introducing the practice of transferring them from one job to another within the company.

At first, the company was located on the 4th floor of a burnt-out department store in the destroyed center of Tokyo, but soon moved to the old district of the capital. To get into the “new office”, one had to bend down and walk under the clotheslines on which the neighbors were drying diapers.

This shocked Morita's relatives who visited him so much that they reported to his parents that Akio had become an anarchist. However, Morita's father repeatedly lent money to develop the company. “Material assistance” brought him good dividends - he later became one of the largest shareholders of Sony.

What did the inventors spend the money they received on?

Ibuka and Morita did not immediately find themselves in business. They were eager to create something fundamentally new, but at first they produced either radio set-top boxes, electric rice cookers, or heated pillows.

The search for my own business was crowned with success after 3 years.

In 1949, Morita bought an American tape recorder, combining business with pleasure - both the music could be listened to, and the acquisition could be disassembled and examined.

The information carrier in the tape recorder was unreliable and expensive wire, and Japanese engineers were inspired by the idea of ​​​​creating a tape recorder. Tape media had a higher fidelity and made it easy to change the recording - it was enough to paste a new piece of tape in the right place.

The idea of ​​a new product was not received with a bang by the company's employees - they had listened to Masaru's fantastic ideas for too long and no longer trusted them much. There was an urgent need to prove to colleagues (and especially to the accountant) that the project was worth the money and effort.

Ibuka and Morita decided to convince the chief accountant that they were right in the usual way for us - they took us to a restaurant. While he was eating both cheeks, his friends were praising their idea. Soon the accountant, with a full stomach and not quite a sober head, gave the go-ahead for scientific research.

The company began developing its own tape media for sound recording. Cellophane was initially used as a base, which was cut into long strips and covered with experimental compounds. But even durable types of cellophane, after a couple of runs through the tape mechanism, stretched and distorted the sound.

The next material for magnetic tape was high-quality paper. It was cut and glued by hand, so the company's founders actually had a hand in creating the product. But paper was no good either.

After the company obtained plastic and developed its own technology for its use, the matter moved forward.

As for the magnetic coating of the tape, Japanese researchers obtained it from iron oxalate, which was pre-fried in a frying pan!

I would like you to clearly understand that at first no one in the company really knew how to make this magnetic tape, but, nevertheless, this did not stop anyone. And already in 1965, IBM chose Sony tape for storage devices in computers.

In 1950, the first tape recorder was released. It weighed 35 kg and cost 170,000 yen, i.e. $472 (a technician after university then received $30 per month).

Everyone liked the technical novelty, but it did not sell - inventing unique technologies and products was not enough. Morita took up marketing and managed to find consumers who saw the tape recorder not as an expensive toy, but as a useful thing. The Supreme Court of Japan purchased 20 tape recorders at once due to the shortage of stenographers in the post-war period. Schools are the next market.

In 1952, after Ibuka’s trip to the USA, the partners got the idea to buy a license for transistor, which would solve the issues of reducing the size of radio receivers. The following year, Morita travels to New York to complete the patent acquisition.

During research in the field of transistors, the company's employees discovered and described the tunneling effect in diodes, Leo Esaki subsequently received the Nobel Prize.

In 1955, Akio decides to change the name of the company - with the unpronounceable “Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo” it is difficult to conquer the Western market.

The business of Japanese engineers was related to sound, and therefore the starting point was the word “sonus” (Latin for “sound”), the meaning was also suitable for the slang “sonny” (English “son”), as smart guys were called then. Crossing out one letter from "sonny" Japanese sounding like “lose money,” Morita got “sony.”

So the corporation acquired a simple and memorable name, which became not only the name of the company, but also the brand of the goods produced.

In 1955 Sony introduces Japan's first transistor radio, the TR-55. Two years later, the company launched the first "pocket" receiver, the TR-63, into the US market, dubbed "the beginning of the end of the American consumer electronics industry."

In promoting its product, Sony resorted to a trick - the very first “pocket” receivers were still slightly larger than the pocket of a classic men’s shirt. For company representatives advertising the new product, special shirts with enlarged pockets were issued, into which the receivers could already fit!

In 1960 year Sony introduces the world's first transistor TV. The fact is that at that time televisions were incredibly huge because they worked on electronic vacuum tubes. Transistors were much smaller in size. The Japanese wanted to reduce the size of televisions using transistors, which they did brilliantly.

In 1961 The world's first portable TV appears.

The device caused a real sensation among consumers, even despite its high cost. It allowed

In 1961 year, 15 years after the founding of the business, the company's representative office in the USA, Sony Corporation of America, became the first Japanese company to be included in the lists of the New York stock exchange. The issue of shares brings its founders 4 million dollars! Then the cost of one share was $1.75, now security companies can be purchased for an average of $18 (data from May 2014).

This is not the highest price for Sony shares; the shares reached their highest value in March 2000 and then cost almost $150 per share. Below is a chart of changes in the company's share price. The picture can be enlarged by clicking on it:

In 1963 This year the company introduces a new product - the world's first transistor video cassette recorder.

The XVIII Summer Olympic Games of 1964, held in Tokyo, contributed to the growth of Japanese demand for color televisions - everyone wanted to follow the progress of the competition (in the final standings, Japan then took 3rd place, behind the USA and the USSR). Sony is successfully developing the market segment of portable TVs, where it does not meet competitors.

What is the secret of the company's success?

Let us note the clear organization of the system - in order to effectively complete tasks, the company structure was divided into groups (base scientific knowledge, project, business group), having their own functions, but closely interacting with each other.

In addition to such objective factors as new technologies and competent management of the company, the accuracy of the Japanese, which, as Morita believed, was in their blood, also played a role: “ Perhaps this has something to do with the care with which we have to learn to draw the complex hieroglyphs of our language.”

In 1968 In 2009, Sony began production of a color TV with a Trinitron kinescope, for the creation of which the National Academy of Television was awarded 4 years later. will award the company an Emmy Award.

In 1971 Sony introduces the world's first professional cassette format, U-matic. VCRs of this format were the first players in which the film was located in a closed housing. The "" company immediately bought 5,000 of these VCRs to train its mechanics and salespeople.

In 1975 year Betamax appears - f format video recordings for home use; At the same time, the household video cassette recorder appeared.

IN 1979 The company releases the first portable cassette audio player with Walkman headphones. The idea of ​​its creation belongs to , who noticed that there are a great many people who do not want to part with their favorite music - even his daughter, once returning from a trip, the first thing she did was not say hello to her mother, but ran to the tape recorder.

In 1980 year the company introduces Betakam, a half-inch cassette format for home use.

In 1983 Sony and Philips released the first CDs. Initially, discs with a diameter of 11.5 cm were planned, but at the insistence Sony size was increased to 12 cm - the company wanted to be able to record Beethoven’s 9th “chorale” symphony in its entirety on a disc, lasting 74 minutes.

The year 1990 became the most fruitful year for innovative developments - Sony released about five thousand new products!

In 1994 In 2009, the company launched the PlayStation gaming console on the Japanese market. This console will conquer a wide market, even entering folklore:

In Russian language lesson:

Teacher: What prefixes do you know?

Vovochka: XboxAndSony PlayStation.

By the way, these game consoles are popular not only among schoolchildren. A funny Sony ad shows how the gaming console turns a grown man into a child.

In the 90s, Cyber-Shot digital cameras, VAIO personal computers, DVD video players, Memory Stick memory cards and much more appeared.

In 1997, Ibuka Masaru passed away, in 1999 -. Their creative tandem, which lasted more than half a century, led Sony to the heights of success. The lines dedicated to Masaru's farewell say: "Every employee, starting with Akio Morita, worked to make Masaru Ibuki's dream come true." We can say that Masaru’s cherished wish has come true - the life’s work of Japanese businessmen, the Sony company, still lives, develops and wins the trust of more and more new customers.

In 2001, Sony, together with the Swedish company Ericsson, founded a company specializing in mobile phones and accessories. In 2011, having bought out their share from partners, Sony became the sole owner of Sony Ericsson and renamed the company Sony Mobile Communications.

With the new brand name “Xperia”, the company is strengthening its position in the smartphone market.

Since 2005, the company begins to produce televisions under the new brand “BRAVIA”, and already in 2006 it ranks first in the world in sales of plasma televisions.

As for our market, in Russia Sony history started in 1991. In 1997, the company owned the highest share of the Russian TV sales market - 22%. In 2013, Sony was awarded the national Product of the Year award, receiving as many as 9 awards.

Is Sony dying?

However, not everything is so rosy. The fact is that over the past five years, not counting 2013, Sony has been unprofitable. That is, she did not make a profit for four years, except for 2013.

The losses are caused by a reduction in Sony's global share in the production of almost all types of electronics. The leading position of the Japanese manufacturer was shaken by companies from Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan and China), with whose cheap labor it was not easy to compete.

The 2011 earthquake in Japan led to forced plant downtime and additional losses.

The strengthening national currency also played a negative role - the high exchange rate of the yen increased the cost of Japanese goods and made exports less profitable.

Many analysts predict the imminent demise of Sony and advise selling shares of this concern.

To finance its business restructuring program, the company is selling some of its office buildings.

Thus, the sale of a 37-story skyscraper with an area of ​​76 thousand sq.m. in Manhattan brought Sony just over $1 billion in 2013. For 3 years, Sony will still rent the space it previously owned.

To reduce costs, a decision has already been made to cut 5 thousand jobs, as well as to sell the Vaio computer and laptop division. The TV production line is planned to be separated into a separate company.

I don’t know what this is connected with, perhaps due to the fact that the founding fathers passed on to another world. They retired in the mid-nineties, but until their very last days they continued to advise and help their colleagues.

• Masaru Ibuka was born on April 11, 1908, died on December 19, 1997.
• born January 26, 1921, died October 3, 1999.

In 2000, Sony's share price reached an all-time high ($149.71) and then began to decline rapidly. They reached a historical low in November 2012, when they cost $9.74 per share.

With the passing of its founders, Sony seemed to have lost its sense of fashionable and unusually interesting gadgets. The company has become completely different. More recently, the company was a true pioneer in the world of electronics and led the market.

Under Morita, new products and innovations were placed at the forefront of the company's development. With the arrival of new managers trained in MBA programs, innovation took a back seat, and the first priority was given to reducing production costs and increasing production volumes and sales of existing products.

Previously, the company's management devoted 85% of its time to issues related to research and development, 10% to personnel issues and only the remaining 5% to finance.

Now, most of the time at management planning meetings is devoted to how to increase production volumes, how to avoid spending on one’s own research and innovation in favor of mass production of other people’s developments, how to extend the depreciation period of equipment and other ways to reduce production costs.

The once most popular Walkmans have been pushed out of the market by iPods, which, by the way, appeared in 2001. But they firmly held the palm in this market for almost 20 years.

The same goes for many other areas in which the legendary Japanese brand has lost its technological edge, although some of Sony's products still deserve praise. For example, it was shot with an inexpensive waterproof camera Sony DSC-TX200, which costs about 10,000 rubles. In my opinion, excellent quality and quite affordable price for underwater camera with HD video recording function.

I have had a Sony car radio in my car for many years now. I've been using it for eight years cell phone Sony-Ericsson, which still works great, except that it is outdated. It just needs to be replaced with a battery, otherwise it runs out quickly. I also still have a Sony digital camera that I bought back in 2006. True, the shooting mode switch is a little sticky, but you can get used to it.

While I was writing the article, I was surprised at how many gadgets I have of this brand, although I never considered myself a fan or a fan of this brand.

By the way, in 2006, Sony Corporation inherited all the technological developments from the leaders in the photographic field, KONICA-MINOLTA, which curtailed the production of cameras in 2006. It is worth noting that Konica and Minolta, which merged only in 2003, were considered the luminaries of Japanese photo production.

Both companies have existed since early XIX century. Only Konica specialized in the production of rangefinder cameras, photographic film, paper and photo printing systems, and Minolta specialized in the production of SLR cameras and optics, which were of a fairly high class and were valued not only by amateurs, but also by professional photographers all over the world.

Today, Sony produces a huge variety of cameras equipped with high-quality optics from Carl Zeiss, the legendary German concern with which the Japanese corporation has been working closely since 1995.

Sony remains to be Sony, just like in the slogan of past years - “it’s a Sony” (“this is Sony”).

Now the company has a new slogan. In 2009, the famous advertising phrase “like.no.other” (“like no one else”) was replaced by a new one: “make.believe” (“make it a reality”). This motto accurately reflects the company's philosophy that dreams should come true and plans should be realized; And Sony helps bring ideas to life.

The logo remains the same; the ’73 trademark is currently used. Back in 1981, as part of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the founding of Sony, the company's logo was planned to be changed. But then, after going through the options, Ibuka decided that none of the proposed ones was better than the existing one. And why change anything, if it is with these letters, simple and expressive, that Sony has entered its name into the list of innovative companies? Let's hope that the new management of the company will remember past victories and traditions and regain the lost greatness of the brand that once thundered throughout the world!

Since 2008, the company has been a participant in the global Eco-Patent Commons project, created to solve environmental problems. Companies participating in the project provide free access to their patents for technologies and inventions that can improve the environmental situation.

Sony is generally one of the most environmentally friendly companies. In 2013, the company took an honorable 11th place in the “Greenest Brands” rating compiled by the Interband agency based on 83 criteria.

In a number of its eco-products, Sony uses kinetic energy. To recharge a “twist and click” digital camera, you need to rotate its body, while you can “charge” stereo “push and play” headphones by pulling the wire out of the case.

Sony specialists have developed new “biobatteries” that generate electricity by breaking down glucose under the action of enzymes.

By 2050, according to the environmental action schedule, the company plans to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions for both its factories and its products.

Personally, I like this company and the reliability of the devices it produces. The only wish is that it keeps up with the times and does not lag behind such geniuses and innovators of the industry as Samsung, who are not afraid to open new markets, create new products and trends in the world of consumer electronics.

In conclusion, I suggest you look at the history of Sony’s development in the form of infographics. Click on the picture to enlarge.

At the end of 2010 I came to Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro, my first Android smartphone. At that moment I was shocked. After Samsung WiTu, Nokia N97 and even the sacred first iPhone, the QWERTY device from SE seemed cosmically fast.

It flew to the menu, instantly launched the camera and played any video without conversion. Its built-in browser was not annoying, and in the Market you could download a couple of dozen free games in a couple of minutes. It even charged extremely quickly - from zero to 100% in 50-60 minutes.

I used that slider for about a month and then stupidly sold it. True, he soon returned to Android and continued to monitor SE. I remember well my reaction to the Ericsson takeover in the fall of 2011.

“Great, now there will be a short name, anyway, these Swedes did not bring any benefit,” was my reasoning.

Soon Sony presented the Xperia S model. By May 2012, it cost as much as an iPhone 4s, and I just decided to change my phone. The Japanese flagship tore up the iPhone's specifications: it had a large and ultra-clear screen, a 12-megapixel camera and support for fast charging.

I didn’t regret the purchase, but six months after it I still switched to the iPhone, because I always loved diversity.

As it turned out, I got off Sony just in time. Almost everything that they have released over the past four years under the guise of smartphones can be called secondary, gray and unpromising.

The only noticeable device in their design was the Sony Xperia Z Ultra, which stood out with its giant screen, bright purple body and wild charisma.

The rest misses the mark: a worthy (in the past) vendor has slipped into a place from which they cannot escape.

1. Sony smartphones are the same. In 2013, Asian designers were shown a rectangle, and they were so inspired that they still can’t look away. Yes, Sony periodically moves the side buttons, and sometimes even changes their shape, but the essence remains the same: the models are similar to each other, like the early Leningrad tracks.

To adhere to such conservative tactics, one must either be based in Cupertino (3 years without a new design) or have obvious suicidal tendencies.

Even Sony fans point out that adding new body colors no longer helps: the entire template needs to be redone. When Sony will condescend to this is a mystery: apparently, they like to live in the past.

2. Sony has absolutely terrible naming. The S-series flagships did not last long: they were replaced by the Z-series. In parallel with the top line, other devices with letters were released: Xperia M, Xperia C, Xperia E, Xperia J. Symbols (Xperia Z3+), lowercase letters (Xperia E4g), and words (Xperia Z5 Premium) were added. If you consider that every dual-SIM model has the word Dual in its name (Sony Xperia C5 Ultra Dual), then everything becomes completely sad.

However, in 2016, the Japanese said that it was time to move towards simplification. It's a great initiative, but it doesn't fit in with what Sony has done.

Xperia XA, Xperia X Compact, Xperia XA Ultra, Xperia X, Xperia XZ, Xperia X Performance - thank you very much, now everything is clear (not really). In fact, in Asia, the flagship line was relaunched for the third time in five years. It is already clear that this will not help Sony.

3. Inadequate prices. Sony lives in its own world - a world where China does not produce smartphones at all. Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei - they all release inexpensive super hits in another galaxy, completely different from the one where Sony lives.

Firstly, the Japanese do not make budget devices - this is already a huge mistake. Secondly, even for what Sony calls the middle class, the price tags are raised as if the company's analytical department had committed hara-kiri.

Let's say there is Xperia smartphone XA. It has an HD screen, a Chinese MediaTek processor and a tiny 2300 mAh battery.

How much could such a miracle cost? 15 thousand is through the roof, 13 is too much, 10-12 is just right. Metallic, fast and long-lasting Xiaomi Redmi 3S, if anything, costs 9-10. But for the Xperia XA they still ask for 19 thousand (officially) and 16 thousand if you take it through “gray” sellers.

Overpaying for a brand would be possible if the brand lived up to its ambition. But Sony is no better than its Chinese competitors, and for the Japanese this is a tragedy.

They could capture the audience with the Walkman player, but people download this application on smartphones of other brands. They may have impressed the world with Cybershot level cameras, but their current cameras produce weak photos due to crude software.

They could have made water resistance the main feature, but even here they lost the war between Apple and Samsung without a chance.

Sony Ericsson made cool, original and different products that were above average in price but worth the money.

Sony clones faceless devices that no longer evoke the desire to buy them.

There is only one way out of this situation - a complete restart and a strict ban on the use of the old design. But it is far from certain that this instruction will help: precious time has already been lost.

Let's talk about another "Russian" company - at one time we talked about Nokia, which was founded in Finland at a time when it was part of the Russian empire, and today we will talk about another company that can be even more considered "Russian" because that it was Russian orders and work in Russia that allowed the company to get on its feet, grow and become the largest in the field of interest to us. Today I will tell you the history of the company Ericsson.

In 1846, a sixth child was born into a poor Swedish family, who was named Lars Magnus. After him, by the way, three more children were born into the family (... as best they could). Lars, for obvious reasons, could not go to school, and by the age of 12, after the death of his father, he was forced to go to work. Perhaps for some of you this will seem wild, but for those times this situation is normal. At the age of 15, the boy leaves for Norway to work in the mines, where he works and learns blacksmithing and, thanks to his hard work, becomes a master blacksmith. After another six years, he returns to Sweden, but settles in Stockholm, not wanting to return to the farm.
During the day, our hero works in electromechanical workshops, repairs telegraph equipment, and in the evening he studies: he studies mathematics, strength of materials, drawing, foreign languages- in general, it is catching up.

In 1867, Ericsson became an employee of Ollers & Co, a small (and first) Swedish company that focused on electrical engineering. Six years later, the young Swede moves to Berlin. After working for a year as a draftsman and designer at the electrical engineering company Siemens & Halske, which we also talked about in one of the stories, and then in Bern at Hasler & Escher, in 1875, at the age of 29, Lars Ericsson returned to his homeland, to Stockholm.

On April 1, 1876, Lars Magnus Ericsson and his former Öllers & Co colleague Carl Andersson founded the electromechanical workshops LM Ericsson & Co (LME), which were actually barns. The company intends to engage in the repair of telegraph devices and signaling equipment. Soon his own device appeared - a desk telephone with a magneto and a speaker.
Lars Ericsson worked 12 hours a day, after which he returned home and could sit at the drawing board for another half of the night. It was he who was the author of most of his company's developments.

The main competitor of his enterprise were American Bell telephones. In 1880, the Bell Company opened the first commercial telephone network in Stockholm. A year later, the Swedish national telephone association Telegrafverket was created, which announced a competition for the supply of equipment between the Bell Company and the LME workshop. Ericsson wins - its equipment turns out to be better and cheaper. Over the next five years, 64 of Sweden's 93 cities had telephones - and everything from stations to telephones was LME's product. Later, Telegrafverket opens its own production, and the share of sales of Ericsson products drops sharply.

To solve the company's financial problems, the export of telephone equipment to Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia and New Zealand is being established as soon as possible. Shanghai orders an entire telephone exchange. Ericsson opens an office and factory in New York and receives an order to install telephones in Mexico City. In 1893, Ericsson installed telephones in Kyiv. Then - Kharkov, Rostov, Riga, Kazan and Tiflis. And in 1897, an entire Ericsson factory opened in St. Petersburg. The impressive complex of buildings of the telephone plant was erected over the course of just two years by the St. Petersburg architect K. K. Schmidt.

In 1901, at the age of 55, Ericsson resigned as president of the company he had created. For another two years, he remains a member of the board of Ericsson, then sells all his shares to his partners and moves to the farm he bought seven years earlier, deciding to create an ideal farm, electrified from top to bottom - a smart home, in our opinion. Ericsson developed the farm until 1916, and then passed it on to his youngest son.

Ericsson died on December 17, 1926 at the age of eighty. At his request, the tombstone was not installed: “I entered this world nameless, and I will leave it nameless.”

But the company’s history, as we know, does not end with the death of the founder.
Cooperation with the USSR continued; in 1980 they were engaged in large projects- for example, a telex center for the Olympic Games. It is at this time that everyone is actively putting communications on mobile rails. There is nowhere to go - Ericsson needs to understand that you won’t get far with wires.
Together with Nokia they share the leadership in this area.

But then chance breaks into business. Ericsson's only resource for the production of electronic components for mobile phones in the 90s it was a Philips plant in Albuquerque. In March 2000, a fire started at the plant due to lightning, destroying equipment and putting production lines out of action. Philips hastened to assure Ericsson and Nokia (which was also a customer of chips from there) that production would be suspended for no more than a week. It soon became clear that troubleshooting would take several months, and Ericsson was faced with a shortage of components. This cast doubt on its future as a mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia also had problems, but they also had other equipment suppliers.

Ericsson, which was the third largest mobile phone manufacturer at the beginning of 2001, faced serious risks caused by the fire. In order to reduce production costs, the company decided to cooperate with Asian manufacturers, and primarily with Sony.

In August 2001, the Sony and Ericsson concerns agreed on the terms of the merger of their mobile divisions and further cooperation. Since 2002, both companies finally stopped producing phones under their own brands, and the line planned for 2002-2003 was already produced under the Sony Ericsson brand. Both companies at that time had extensive experience in the production of mobile phones, which made it possible to combine existing developments for the benefit of new products. In particular, the JogDial navigation wheel was used for the first time in Sony phones.

A priority for Sony Ericsson was the release of mobile phones with the ability to digitally record and other multimedia functions, for example, the ability to upload video clips, flexible menu settings, ease of working with music files, etc. By the end of 2002, Sony Ericsson released several models of mobile phones that had color displays and various multimedia capabilities, which was an innovation in the industry mobile devices that time. At the same time, the combined enterprise continued to suffer losses, despite successful sales of some models.

I think many of you have seen these phones with excellent cameras and interesting designs. At the end of October 2011, Ericsson agreed to sell its stake in Sony Ericsson SONY for 1.05 billion euros. It was announced that starting from mid-2012, phones will be produced under the Sony brand.
On February 16, Sony announced the completion of the takeover of Ericsson's share and the change of the company's name to Sony Mobile Communications. We talked about this topic quite a bit on Trashbox.

Now Ericsson is doing quite well, doing business in 8 directions and having an annual turnover of 227 billion dollars. For comparison, Nokia has a turnover of only 29 billion.

Have you used Sony Ericsson? Have you seen UIQ? Maybe you have a SONY phone now?
Tell us your memories associated with this brand.

Slogan: make.belive

At the origins of many world-famous companies were two people, one of whom was a talented engineer, the other well-versed in the business world. Was no exception Sony.

This happened in 1946, in Japan, which was just beginning to revive after the defeat and shocks of World War II. In the partially destroyed Nihonbashi shopping center, which miraculously survived the bombing of Tokyo, a young engineer, Masaru Ibuka, opened a workshop for repairing various electrical equipment and electronics. After some time, he and his old friend Akio Morita founded an office in the same premises for a new company, which received the loud name Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute, which was sometimes shortened to Totsuko. A year later they will move to some semblance of what can already be called the head office. Their first development was a set-top box for radio receivers, which expanded the capabilities of the device, allowing it to receive foreign programs. These products were not in great demand, but allowed them to stay afloat, amassing some semblance of initial capital. Moreover, sometimes it was necessary to take payment not in money, but in various products, which was a common occurrence for an impoverished country. In the future, more profitable products appear.

But real success came in September 1949, when Japan's first tape recorder was created. A rather ugly, massive box that used 25 cm diameter spools was called Type G.

Friends have always understood the importance of creating not only high-quality products, but also a beautiful brand, which was simply necessary to enter the world market. This is how the brand was born in 1950 Sony– derived from Latin "sonus" ("sound"). The word turned out to be simple, easy to remember and unique. In 1955 it was officially approved new logo and the first products under the new brand were presented - the transistor radio TR-55. The success of this receiver determined the success of the brand. Next model became the first miniature TR-63 receiver, the price of which was inversely proportional to its size. He had no commercial success. By that time, components produced Totsuko Other Japanese manufacturers are starting to purchase.

In 1958, the company officially changed its name to Sony Corporation, still in use today.

Subsequently, the main focus was on two things - innovative developments and beautiful brands. The company owns a great many brands. Among them there are world famous ( Trinitron, Vaio, PlayStation, Walkman, Bravia, Cyber-shot, Clie), and those that are known only to specialists.

The second half of the twentieth century was marked by the dawn Sony. A sort of “golden period”. The company is successfully developing new market segments. And she creates others herself. Many unique devices and developments are appearing, analogues of which competitors will not be able to create soon.

In his book "Just for fun", the creator operating system Linux, Linus Torvalds read Sony great future. In his opinion, the corporation should have become for the world of electronics approximately the same as it is Microsoft for the world software. It’s not surprising - in those years when the book was written (the 90s of the last century), Sony really developed at a rapid pace. In 1990 alone, more than 500 innovative developments were presented! Brand Sony became a megabrand - many consumers often purchased electronics based only on it, without even paying attention to the products of competitors. But…

As of today, things are going well Sony Things are no longer as great as they used to be. This was due to the overly complex structure that did not allow us to adequately and quickly respond to new market trends, as well as confidence in our own steadfastness. The policy of imposing one's own standards also played a negative role. The company, which had always been considered one of the most innovative, suddenly ceased to have time to respond to technical trends in the market. As a result, leading positions in many areas were lost - portable players (nowadays the Apple), televisions ( Samsung), gaming consoles ( Nintendo). The alliance with the Swedish failed Ericsson, - brand Sony-Ericsson failed to exert the necessary influence on the market ( Nokia, Samsung, LG, HTC, Apple). The main competitor unexpectedly turned out to be a South Korean conglomerate Samsung, bypassing the Japanese in many directions.

The most important thing that was not taken into account in Sony- this is the fact that modern users are no longer interested in a “loud” brand, but in high functionality, even at some expense to quality. There are fewer people willing to pay large sums just for a beautiful label. SonyStyle has lost its former attractiveness, although it has not completely faded. Yes, and in professional technology Sony plays a significant role. But Torvalds's prediction was not destined to come true.

The company's headquarters is located in Tokyo, Japan. Sony Group- a complex structure with many divisions and subsidiaries. The controlling company is Sony Corporation. The main area of ​​production is electronics, but the company also plays a significant role in the mass media, being involved in television and radio broadcasting and film production.

Interesting Facts:

In 1946, the young company's main income came from an electrically heated pillow, which was sold under the brand Ginza Heating Company. The reason for the appearance of this brand is anecdotal - being completely unsure of the quality of this product, friends decided to use a different name, so that in case of failure they would not bring problems to the main one, destroying the reputation of the company, which was just beginning to get on its feet. To their credit, it should be noted that these pillows turned out to be very good.

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This story caused quite a stir on the Internet at one time. It happened in May 2007 in Finland. Some user of some equipment Sony I ordered the most ordinary mounting screw from the company’s service center. The request was fulfilled quickly, but the invoice issued by the SC was 62 euros! Thus, the markup amounted to 700% of the cost of the screw. It must be assumed that the victim was not too eager to purchase equipment in the future. Sony.

The brand is known in the technology world not only for the Playstation console, Vaio laptops and the Music Entertainment record label, but also the first Walkman portable players, the first CDs, the PlayStation console, and a sea of ​​other high-tech products.

The existence of the famous Sony company began in May 1946. It was then that two enthusiasts Akio Morita and his companion Masaru Ibuka founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo in the Tokyo Shirokiya department store that was burned down during the war.

At that time, nothing foreshadowed the stunning success of a small enterprise with a staff of twenty people and initial capital at 500$.

What helped young people make their dreams come true?
In many ways, the successful development of their brainchild was determined by the leaders themselves. Technological genius Masaru Ibuka was involved in the development of new products, and Akio Morita took over marketing issues. And gradually the small company, whose building had a leaky roof (workers assembled the first radios under umbrellas), turned into a thriving corporation. It was she who made the whole world believe in the quality of Japanese products.
The success of the company was determined by many factors, but the main ones, of course, were the art of management, marketing strategy and competent management. Akio Morita created a completely new management model. The company set itself major goals that were understandable and accessible even to ordinary workers. Each employee of the company had the right to think and make proposals, to which the managers were sure to listen. This made it possible to create a team of like-minded people moving towards a common goal.
When developing a marketing strategy, Morita focused on promoting products exclusively of his brand. He relied on three components: novelty, the highest quality, and relatively low cost. The company's development was accompanied by some management problems. Huge network branches located around the world were led by a team of managers from various countries. With such a management model, it is almost impossible to avoid bureaucratic difficulties.
The company's founders developed a whole range of anti-bureaucratic techniques aimed at overcoming these difficulties. Today, the manager of each division of the company is vested with broad powers. He is free to make decisions at his own discretion, but with one condition: all of them must contribute to the prosperity of the company. Great preference in choosing employees is given to enthusiasts. According to Akio Morita, no amount of encouragement can make an employee put all his effort into work. Personal enthusiasm can serve as the best motivation.

Currently, Sony Corporation is an operating division of the Sony Group holding company. The company produces high-tech products, including professional and consumer electronics, game consoles and other products. Sony is the world's leading media conglomerate, owning the record label, film studios and joint rights to the full slate of MGM films.

Today Sony Group operates in the following areas:

Production of consumer and professional electronics (the holding has the rights to the Aiwa brand);
release of Playstation game consoles and video games (Sony Computer Entertainment);
film production (film companies TriStars Pictures and Columbia Pictures are also part of the media conglomerate);
production of music products (Sony Music Entertainment);
carrying out activities in the financial sector (the holding includes banks and insurance companies);
production of mobile phones (Sony Mobile Communications);
development and production of laptops ( Sony Vaio);
production of televisions (Sony Bravia).

Currently, Sony Corporation has approximately 150,000 highly qualified employees around the world. The company began its activities in the CIS markets in 1991. After 8 years, she managed to gain a leading position among foreign companies operating in Russia.

Some Sony brands: Alpha, BRAVIA, Cyber-shot, Entertainment Television, Mobile Communications, Music Entertainment, Handycam, Pictures, PlayStation, Walkman, Xperia