Sony

Sony Corporation
ソニー株式会社
Type Public
TYO: 6758
NYSE: SNE
Industry Conglomerate
Founded May 7, 1946[1]
Founder(s) Masaru Ibuka
Akio Morita
Headquarters Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Area served Worldwide
Key people Howard Stringer[1]
(Chairman, President & CEO)
Ryoji Chubachi[2]
(Vice Chairman)
Masaru Kato[2]
(EVP & CFO)
Products Consumer & professional electronic equipments
Communication & information-related equipments
Semiconductor
Electronic devices & components
Battery
Chemicals
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Music
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation
Blu-ray
Services Financial services
Internet service
Revenue decrease ¥7.214 trillion / $79.618 billion (2010)[3]
Operating income increase ¥ 31.8 billion / $342 million (2010)[3]
Net income increase ¥ −40.8 billion / −$437 million (2010)[3]
Total assets increase ¥11,218,375,331,922.92 / $123.739 billion (2009)[4]
Total equity increase ¥2,769,446,663,186.11 / $30.535 billion (2009)[4]
Employees 167,900 (as of March 2010)[1]
Subsidiaries List of the subsidiaries
Website Sony.net
Sony City, Sony Corporation Headquarters in Minato, Tokyo
The Sony Building in the Ginza area of Chūō, Tokyo

Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社 Sonī Kabushiki Gaisha?) (TYO: 6758, NYSE: SNE), or commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. (FY2008).[4] Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.

Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its eight operating segments – Consumer Products & Devices (CPD), Networked Products & Services (NPS), B2B & Disc Manufacturing (B2B & Disc), Pictures, Music, Financial Services, Sony Ericsson and All Other.[5][6] These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

Its founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived the name from sonus, the Latin word for sound, and also from the English slang word "sonny", since they considered themselves to be "sonny boys", a loan word into Japanese which in the early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men.[7]

The company's current slogan is make.believe.[8] Their former slogan was like.no.other.[9]

Contents

History

Masaru Ibuka, the co-founder of Sony

In late 1945, after the end of World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bomb-damaged department store building in Nihonbashi of Tokyo. The next year, he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K.,[10] (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder called the Type-G.[10]

In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs' invention of the transistor.[10] He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company. While most American companies were researching the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka and Morita looked to apply it to communications. Although the American companies Regency and Texas Instruments built the first transistor radios, it was Ibuka's company that made them commercially successful for the first time.

In August 1955, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo released the Sony TR-55, Japan's first commercially produced transistor radio.[11] They followed up in December of the same year by releasing the Sony TR-72, a product that won favor both within Japan and in export markets, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. Featuring six transistors, push-pull output and greatly improved sound quality, the TR-72 continued to be a popular seller into the early sixties.

In May 1956, the company released the TR-6, which featured an innovative slim design and sound quality capable of rivaling portable tube radios. It was for the TR-6 that Sony first contracted "Atchan", a cartoon character created by Fuyuhiko Okabe, to become its advertising character. Now known as "Sony Boy", the character first appeared in a cartoon ad holding a TR-6 to his ear, but went on to represent the company in ads for a variety of products well into the mid-sixties.[10] The following year, 1957, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo came out with the TR-63 model, then the smallest (112 × 71 × 32 mm) transistor radio in commercial production. It was a worldwide commercial success.[10]

University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., says, "Sony was not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1968.

Sony's headquarters moved to Minato, Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo around the end of 2006.[12][13]

Origin of name

When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a romanized name to use to market themselves, they strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK.[10] The company occasionally used the acronym "Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was "Tokyo Teletech" until Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name.[14]

The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word Sonus which is the root of "sonic" and "sound" and the other was "sonny," a familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy.[7] The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958.[15]

At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters instead of kanji to spell its name. The move was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval.[10]

Products, technologies and proprietary formats

Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of other manufacturers and standards bodies. The most infamous of these was the videotape format war of the early 1980s, when Sony marketed the Betamax system for video cassette recorders against the VHS format developed by JVC. In the end, VHS gained critical mass in the marketplace and became the worldwide standard for consumer VCRs and Sony adopted the format. While Betamax is for all practical purposes an obsolete format, a professional-oriented component video format called Betacam that was derived from Betamax is still used today, especially in the film and television industry.

In 1968 Sony introduced the Trinitron brand name for its line of aperture grille cathode ray tube televisions and (later) computer monitors. Trinitron displays are still produced, but only for markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and China. Sony discontinued the last Trinitron-based television set in the USA in early 2007. Trinitron computer monitors were discontinued in 2005.

Sony launched the Betamax videocassette recording format in 1975. In 1979 the Walkman brand was introduced, in the form of the world's first portable music player.

1982 saw the launch of Sony's professional Betacam videotape format and the collaborative Compact Disc format. In 1983 Sony introduced 90 mm micro diskettes (better known as 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy disks), which it had developed at a time when there were 4" floppy disks and a lot of variations from different companies to replace the then on-going 5.25" floppy disks. Sony had great success and the format became dominant; 3.5" floppy disks gradually became obsolete as they were replaced by current media formats. In 1983 Sony launched the MSX, a home computer system, and introduced the world (with their counterpart Philips) to the Compact Disc or CD. In 1984 Sony launched the Discman series which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products. In 1985 Sony launched their Handycam products and the Video8 format. Video8 and the follow-on hi-band Hi8 format became popular in the consumer camcorder market. In 1987 Sony launched the 4 mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital audio tape standard.

Sony Discman

In addition to developing consumer-based recording media, after the launch of the CD Sony began development of commercially based recording media. In 1986 they launched Write-Once optical discs (WO) and in 1988 launched Magneto-optical discs which were around 125MB size for the specific use of archival data storage.[16]

In the early 1990s two high-density optical storage standards were being developed: one was the MultiMedia Compact Disc (MMCD), backed by Philips and Sony, and the other was the Super Density disc (SD), supported by Toshiba and many others. Philips and Sony abandoned their MMCD format and agreed upon Toshiba's SD format with only one modification based on MMCD technology, viz EFMPlus. The unified disc format was called DVD which was marketed in 1997.

Sony introduced the MiniDisc format in 1993 as an alternative to Philips DCC or Digital Compact Cassette. Since the introduction of MiniDisc, Sony has attempted to promote its own audio compression technologies under the ATRAC brand, against the more widely used MP3. Until late 2004, Sony's Network Walkman line of digital portable music players did not support the MP3 de facto standard natively, although the provided software SonicStage would convert MP3 files into the ATRAC or ATRAC3 formats.

Sony's BRAVIA series HDTV

In 1993, Sony challenged the industry standard Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound format with a newer and more advanced proprietary motion picture digital audio format called SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). This format employed eight channels (7.1) of audio opposed to just six used in Dolby Digital 5.1 at the time. Unlike Dolby Digital, SDDS utilized a method of backup by having mirrored arrays of bits on both sides of the film which acted as a measure of reliability in case the film was partially damaged. Ultimately, SDDS has been vastly overshadowed by the preferred DTS (Digital Theatre System) and Dolby Digital standards in the motion picture industry. SDDS was solely developed for use in the theatre circuit; Sony never intended to develop a home theatre version of SDDS.

The Slimline PlayStation 2 with controller

In 1998, Sony launched their Memory Stick format; flash memory cards for use in Sony lines of digital cameras and portable music players. It has seen little support outside of Sony's own products with Secure Digital cards (SD) commanding considerably greater popularity . This is due in part to the SD format's greater throughput (which allows faster devices), higher capacities, and significantly lower price per unit capacity compared to Memory Sticks available at the same time. Sony has made updates to the Memory Stick format with Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Micro.

Sony and Philips jointly developed the Sony-Philips digital interface format (S/PDIF) and the high-fidelity audio system SACD. The latter has since been entrenched in a format war with DVD-Audio. At present, neither has gained a major foothold with the general public. CDs are preferred by consumers because of ubiquitous presence of CD drives in consumer devices.

In 1994 Sony launched the PlayStation (later PS one). This successful console was succeeded by the PlayStation 2 in 2000, itself succeeded by the PlayStation 3 in 2006. The PlayStation 2 has become the most successful video game console of all time. It has sold a total of over 140 million units and still going. The PlayStation brand was extended to the portable games market in 2005 by the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and in 2009, the PSP go. Sony developed the Universal Media Disc (UMD) optical disc medium for use on the PlayStation Portable. Although Sony tried to push the UMD format for movies, major-studio support for the format was cut back in spring 2006, though as of 2009 some major-studio titles continue to be released on UMD.

Sony's retail store, Sony Style
Sony VAIO fashion show in 2008

In 2004, Sony built upon the MiniDisc format by releasing Hi-MD. Hi-MD allows the playback and recording of audio on newly-introduced 1 GB Hi-MD discs in addition to playback and recording on regular MiniDiscs. Recordings on the Hi-MD Walkmans can be transferred to and from the computer virtually unrestricted, unlike earlier NetMD. In addition to saving audio on the discs, Hi-MD allows the storage of computer files such as documents, videos and photos. Hi-MD introduced the ability to record CD-quality audio with a linear PCM recording feature. It was the first time since MiniDisc's introduction in 1992 that the ATRAC codec could be bypassed and lossless CD-quality audio could be recorded on the small discs.

Sony was one of the leading developers and remains one of the strongest proponents of the Blu-ray Disc optical disc format, which eventually emerged as the market leader over the competing standard, Toshiba's HD DVD, after a 2 year-long format war. The first Blu-ray players became commercially available in June 2006, and Sony's first Blu-ray player, the Sony BDP-S1, debuted in December 2006 with an MSRP of US $999.95. By the end of 2007 the format had the backing of every major motion picture studio except Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks.[17][18][19] The Blu-ray format's popularity continued to increase, solidifying its position as the dominant HD media format, and Toshiba announced its decision to stop supporting HD DVD on 19 February 2008.

On 10 September 2007 Sony unveiled Rolly, an egg-shaped digital robotic music player which has colour lights that flash as it “dances” and has flapping wings that can twist to its tunes. Movements along with the music downloaded from personal computers and Bluetooth can be set. Rolly, which went on sale in Japan on 29 September 2007, has one gigabyte of memory to store tunes. Sony also developed dog-shaped robots called AIBO and humanoids and QRIO.[20]

In summary, Sony has over the years introduced these standards:

Management

Sony's current CEO, president and chairman Sir Howard Stringer

On 22 June 2005, Nobuyuki Idei stepped down as Sony Corp. Chairman and Group CEO and was replaced by Howard Stringer, then Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America, Corporate Executive Officer, Vice Chairman and COO Sony Entertainment Business Group. Sony's decision to replace Idei with the British Howard Stringer marked the first time that a foreigner has run a major Japanese electronics firm. On the same date, Kunitake Ando stepped down as President and was replaced by Ryoji Chubachi.[21]

Mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures

Manufacturing base

Slightly more than 50% of the electronics' segment's total annual production during the fiscal year 2005 took place in Japan, including the production of digital cameras, video cameras, flat panel televisions, personal computers, semiconductors and components such as batteries and Memory Sticks. Approximately 65% of the annual production in Japan was destined for other regions. China accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production, approximately 70% of which was destined for other regions.

Asia, excluding Japan and China, accounted for slightly more than 10% of total annual production with approximately 60% destined for Japan, the US and the EU. The Americas and Europe together accounted for the remaining slightly less than 25% of total annual production, most of which was destined for local distribution and sale.[22]

Sony's Sales and Distribution by Geographical Regions in 2009[23]

Geographic Region Total Sales ( Yen in millions)
Japan 1,873,219
United States 1,827,812
Europe 2,307,658
Other Area 2,041,270

On 9 December 2008, Sony Corp. said it will cut 8,000 jobs, drop 8,000 contractors and reduce its global manufacturing sites by 10% to save $1.1 billion a year.[24]

Controversy

Fictitious movie reviewer

In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a fictitious film critic, David Manning, who gave consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures that generally received poor reviews amongst real critics.[25] When the scandal was revealed, Sony apologised to Ridgefield Press, the newspaper Manning was claimed to be from. Sony claimed it was unaware of the marketing ploy, and pulled the ads and suspended Manning's creator and his supervisor. In 2003, Sony paid the state of Connecticut $325,000 in fines following the Connecticut Attorney General's investigation into Sony's alleged fraudulent marketing practices.[26] In August 2005, Sony finalized a settlement to pay $1.5m to fans who saw the reviewed films in the US.[27]

Malicious software (spyware)

In October 2005, it was revealed by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals that Sony BMG's music CDs had installed a rootkit on the user's computer as a DRM measure (called Extended Copy Protection by its creator, British company First 4 Internet), which was difficult to detect or remove.[28] This constitutes a crime in many countries, and poses a major security risk to affected users. The uninstaller Sony initially provided removed the rootkit, but in turn installed a dial-home program that posed an even greater security risk. Sony eventually provided an actual uninstaller that removed all of Sony's DRM program from the user's computer. Sony BMG faced several class action lawsuits regarding this matter.[29] On 31 January 2007, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission issued a news release announcing that Sony BMG had agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that Sony BMG committed several offenses against United States federal law. This settlement required that Sony BMG allow consumers to exchange the CDs through 30 June 2007, and to reimburse consumers for up to $150 for the repair of damage to their computers that they may have incurred while removing the software.

Digital Rights Management

In 2006 Sony started using ARccOS Protection on some of their film DVDs, which caused compatibility problems with some DVD players – including models manufactured by Sony. After complaints, Sony was forced to issue a recall.[30]

In August 2007, security firm F-Secure reported that the MicroVault USB thumb drive installs a rootkit in a hidden directory without consent on user computers. The directory is intended to protect fingerprint data, however it can be used for malicious means as most virus scanners will not search for the directory or its contents.[31] Sony advised it was conducting an investigation on the third-party product, and would offer a fix by mid-September.[32]

In September 2009 Sony had its Mexican office raided by police to recover over 6000 CDs, masters and artwork, by the popular Latin American artist Alejandro Fernández. Fernández's lawyers claimed that Sony was in breach of contract as Fernández had been contracted to Sony for seven albums and the recordings were an eighth album made after the contract had expired.[33]

Controversial advertisements

Sony admitted in late 2005 to hiring graffiti artists to spray paint advertisements for their PlayStation Portable game system in seven major cities including New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco.[34] and Sydney Australia. The mayor of Philadelphia filed a cease and desist order. According to Sony, they paid businesses and building owners for the right to graffiti their walls.[35] As of early January 2006, Sony had no plans to keep or withdraw them.

In July 2006, Sony released a Dutch advertising campaign featuring a white model dressed entirely in white and a black model garbed in black. The first ad featured the white model clutching the face of the black model. The words "White is coming" headlined one of the ads. The ad has been viewed as racist by critics.[36] A Sony spokesperson responded that the ad does not have a racist message, saying that it was only trying to depict the contrast between the black PSP model and the new ceramic white PSP. Other pictures of the ad campaign include the black model overpowering the white model.[37]

In November 2006, a marketing company employed by Sony created a website entitled "All I want for Xmas is a PSP", designed to promote the PSP through viral marketing. The site contained a blog, which was purportedly written by "Charlie", a teenager attempting to get his friend "Jeremy"'s parents to buy him a PSP, providing links to t-shirt iron-ons, Christmas cards, and a "music video" of either Charlie or Jeremy "rapping". However, visitors to the website soon discovered that the website was registered to a marketing company, exposing the site on sites such as YouTube and digg, and Sony was forced to admit the site's true origin in a post on the blog, stating that they would from then on "stick to making cool products" and that they would use the website for "the facts on the PSP". The site has since been taken down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony admitted that the idea was "poorly executed".[38]

Legal

In 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America, marketer of the popular PlayStation game consoles, was sued by Immersion Corporation of San Jose, California which claimed that Sony's PlayStation "Dual Shock" controllers infringed on Immersion's patents. In 2004, a federal jury agreed with Immersion, awarding the company US$82 million in damages. A U.S. district court judge ruled on the matter in March 2005 and not only agreed with the federal jury's ruling but also added another US$8.7 million in damages. This is likely the reason that the Sixaxis controller for the PlayStation 3 had no rumble feature. The DualShock 3 has since been made available for the PlayStation 3, reintroducing rumble capabilities. Microsoft Corp. was also sued for its Xbox controller, however, unlike Sony, they settled out of court so they could continue using the technology for the follow-up Xbox 360.[39]

A California judge ordered Sony to pay Immersion a licensing fee of 1.37 percent per quarter based on the sales of PlayStation units, Dual Shock controllers, and a selection of PlayStation 2 games that use Immersion's technology.

PS3 advertised features removed post sale

Sony announced that on 1 April 2010[40] it was electronically removing Linux [41] functionality from the first generation PS3.[42] A class action has been taken out in California challenging the legality of "the disablement of valuable functionality originally advertised".[43]

Laptop batteries dysfunction

In April 2006, a Sony laptop battery exploded in Japan and caught fire. A Japanese couple in Tokyo sued both Sony and Apple Japan for over ¥2 million (US$16,700) regarding the incident. The suit argues that the man suffered burns on his finger when the battery burst into flames while being used, and his wife had to be treated for mental distress due to the incident.[44]

On 14 August 2006, Sony and Dell admitted to major flaws in several Sony batteries that could result in the battery overheating and catching fire. As a result they recalled over 4.1 million laptop batteries in the largest computer-related recall to that point in history. The cost of this recall is being shared between Dell and Sony. Dell also confirmed that one of its laptops caught fire in Illinois.[45][46] This recall also prompted Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to order the companies to investigate the troubles with the batteries. The ministry said they must report on their findings and draw up a plan to prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under consumer safety laws.[47]

Ten days later on 24 August 2006, Apple Computer recalled 1.8 million Sony built batteries after receiving nine reports of batteries overheating, including two customers who suffered minor burns, and additional reports of property damage.[48]

On 19 September 2006, Toshiba announced it was recalling 340,000 Sony laptop batteries.[49] This recall, however, is not related to the recalls by Apple and Dell, as the batteries are known to cause the laptops to sometimes run out of power. No injuries or other accidents have been reported, according to Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Omori.[50]

On 23 September 2006, Sony announced its investigation[51] of a Lenovo ThinkPad T43 laptop which overheated and caught fire in Los Angeles International Airport on 16 September, an incident that was confirmed by Lenovo. On 28 September 2006, Lenovo and IBM made the global recall of 526,000 laptop batteries.[52]

On 28 September 2006, Sony announced a global battery exchange program in response to growing consumer concerns.[53]

On 2 October 2006, Hewlett-Packard (HP) determined that it was not necessary for them to join the global battery replacement program.[54]

On 3 October 2006, the Yomiuri Shimbun (a Japanese Newspaper) reported that Sony was aware of faults in its notebook PC batteries in December 2005 but failed to fully study the problem.[55][56]

On 16 October 2006, Fujitsu announced it was recalling 278,000 Sony laptop batteries.[57] It was also reported that Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Hitachi may seek compensation from Sony over the battery recalls.[58]

On 25 April 2007, Acer announced that 27,000 batteries from TravelMate and Aspire series notebooks sold from May 2004 to November 2006 were recalled due to 16 reports of overheating and explosions.[59]

On 24 August 2007, it emerged that some of Sony's batteries that were not recalled, and in use on Dell laptop computers, may be at risk of catching fire and exploding; as another case of a Dell laptop with a Sony battery in it, came to light.[60]

On 30 October 2008, the recall of an additional 100,000 batteries produced by Sony was announced by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba due to around forty cases of batteries overheating being reported globally.[61]

CCD

Initially, in October 2005, it was reported by Sony that there were problems with the charge-coupled devices (CCD) in 20 models of digital still cameras. The problems can prevent the cameras from taking clear pictures, and in some cases, possibly prevent a picture being taken at all. In late November 2006, the recall was broadened to eight additional models of digital cameras sold between 2003 and 2005. The problem appears to manifest itself mostly when the camera is used in areas with hot weather. The eight models affected are the following: DSC-F88, DSC-M1, DSC-T1, DSC-T11, DSC-T3, DSC-T33, DSC-U40 and DSC-U50. Sony did indicate that they will repair or replace the affected camera at no charge. Since Sony is one of the largest producers of CCD chips, this recall may affect other manufacturers and models of cameras, possibly as many as 100 models or more. Other manufacturers of digital cameras, including Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus or Fuji have indicated they will replace faulty CCDs in their respective models of cameras if necessary.[62]

Virtualization disabled on VAIO laptops

Previously Sony has disabled hardware virtualization on their high end VAIO laptops. This means that the Windows 7 operating system as well as virtualization software such as VMWare, VirtualBox and others are unable to make use of Intel's or AMD's virtualization technology embedded in their CPUs. Sony's senior manager for product marketing, Xavier Lauwaert, responded that "our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code".[63]

However, with the new BIOS that are being released, most of the new laptops are now officially being enabled with this feature. This includes Vaio Z models with BIOS R2170M3 and R4043M3.[64]

Environmental record

In May 2010, Sony ranked jointly with Panasonic 6th on Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics that assesses the policies on toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change of 18 leading electronics manufacturers.[65] Sony has currently no products available that are completely free of toxic vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs). It has committed to removing PVC and BFRs in its mobile products by April 2011.[66]

Improvement efforts

Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference.[67] Sony's policies address their effects on global warming, the environment, and resources. They are taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they put out as well as regulating the products they get from their suppliers in a process that they call "green procurement".[68] Sony has said that they have signed on to have about 75 percent of their Sony Building running on geothermal power. The "Sony Take Back Recycling Program" allows consumers to recycle the electronics products that they buy from Sony by taking them to eCycle (Recycling) drop-off points around the U.S. The company has also developed a biobattery that runs on sugars and carbohydrates that works similarly to the way living creatures work. This is the most powerful small biobattery to date.[69]

Green TV

For sale in Japan on 30 July 2008, Sony's green product, new flat-panel 32-inch (810 mm) TV 150,000 yen (US$ 1,400; € 900) Bravia KDL-32JE1 offers ecological consumers advantages of less energy consumption (70% less) than regular models with the same image quality. Sony was able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions totaling 79 kilograms (174 pounds) a year, without sacrificing quality by developing a brighter back light and better filtering, which produces light more efficiently. The TVs will have liquid crystal displays along with high-definition digital broadcast capabilities.[70][71][72]

Criticism

In 2000, Sony was ridiculed for a document entitled "NGO Strategy" that was leaked to the press. The document involved the company's surveillance of environmental activists in an attempt to plan how to counter their movements. It specifically mentioned environmental groups that were trying to pass laws that held electronics-producing companies responsible for the clean up of the toxic chemicals contained in their merchandise.[73] In early July 2007, Sony ranked 14th on the Greenpeace chart "Guide to Greener Electronics." This chart graded major electronics companies on their environmental work. Sony fell from its earlier 11th place ranking due to Greenpeace's claims that Sony had double standards in their waste policies.[74]

In 2005, it was made public that the videogame Full Spectrum Warrior, developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks and Pandemic Studios, was paid for in whole by the United States Department of Defense, for use as an urban combat trainer. Not only was the simulation never used as intended, but the Army lost its full investment while Pandemic Studios went on to release the simulation, now an entertainment game, through THQ and it became a success.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Sony Global – Corporate Information". http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Sony Global - Executives". Sony Corporation. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/executive/index.html. Retrieved 2010-07-03. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2010, Sony Corporation" (PDF). http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/09q4_sony.pdf. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2009, Sony Corporation" (PDF). http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/financial/fr/08q4_sony.pdf. 
  5. ↑ Business Overview, Annual Report 2010
  6. ↑ Organization Data
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sony Corporate History (Japanese)
  8. ↑ "Sony Introduces "make.believe" Unified brand message signifies Sony's spirit of creativity and ability to turn ideas into reality". Sony Global Headquarters. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200909/09-100E/index.html. Retrieved 2009-09-03. 
  9. ↑ Sony Rebrands Itself, Drops ‘like.no.other’ And Adopts ‘make.believe’.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 "Sony Global – Sony History". http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-1/h2.html. Retrieved 2007-02-16. 
  11. ↑ "Sony Global – Product & Technology Milestones-Radio". http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/sonyhistory-b.html. Retrieved 2002-12-16. 
  12. ↑ Suzuki, Kyoko. "Sony Considers Sale of Properties Including Former Headquarters." Bloomberg. 3 August 2006. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  13. ↑ "Sony to close symbol of TV business.." Kyodo News International. 1 February 2007. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
  14. ↑ Made in Japan – Akio Morita and Sony (pg. 76) by Akio Morita with [müzik indir]müzik indir Edwin M. Rheingold and Mitsuko Shimomura, Signet Books, 1986
  15. ↑ Sony.co.uk. About Sony. The History of the Sony Corporation
  16. ↑ "Sony History on development of Magneto Optical Discs". 2007. http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-21/h4.html. Retrieved 2007-02-06. 
  17. ↑ Stuart, Keith (2007-08-22). "Paramount drops Blu-ray, Michael Bay drops Paramount". The Guardian (London). http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2007/08/22/paramount_drops_bluray_michael_bay_drops_paramount.html. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  18. ↑ Veiga, Alex (2007). "Paramount to Drop Blu-Ray High-Def DVDs". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/20/AR2007082000687.html. Retrieved 2007-08-20. 
  19. ↑ "High-Definition Disc Disarray (Cont'd.)". The Washington Post. 2007. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/08/highdefinition_disc_disarray_c.html. Retrieved 2007-08-22. 
  20. ↑ News.com.au, Sony unveils new twisting music player
  21. ↑ Sony Corporation Announces New Management Structure. Sony.net. Retrieved 7 March 2005.
  22. ↑ Sony.net
  23. ↑ Breakdown of sales and distribution by geographical markets from company 10Ks
  24. ↑ McCurry, Justin (2008-12-09). "Sony to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/09/sony-job-cuts. Retrieved 2010-05-23. 
  25. ↑ "Legal fight over fake film critic". BBC News. 2 March 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3524759.stm. 
  26. ↑ Emanuella Grinberg (March 9, 2004). "Moviegoers to settle with studio after being lured by phony critic". Cable News Network. http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/09/phony.critic/index.html. 
  27. ↑ "Sony pays $1.5m over fake critic". BBC News. 3 August 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4741259.stm. 
  28. ↑ Sony BMG Litigation Info. EFF.org. Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  29. ↑ Sony faces class action lawsuits for DRM. Wikinews.
  30. ↑ Sony admits, fixes problem with DVD DRM. Arstechnica.com.
  31. ↑ Sony continues supplying rootkit-like software. ZDnet.com.au.
  32. ↑ Sony confirms security problem. BBC News.
  33. ↑ Pirated Artist Orders Police Raid on Sony Music Office
  34. ↑ Graffiti ads spark debate in US. BBC News.
  35. ↑ Wired News
  36. ↑ Stuart, Keith (2006-07-05). "Sony ad causes white riot". London: Guardian Unlimited: Gamesblog. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2006/07/05/sony_ad_casues_white_riot.html. Retrieved 2006-07-06. 
  37. ↑ "Sony's racially charged PSP ad". Joystiq.com. 2006-07-04. http://www.joystiq.com/2006/07/04/ad-critic-sonys-racially-charged-psp-ad/. Retrieved 2006-07-07. 
  38. ↑ "Sony: PSP Viral Campaign 'Poorly Executed'". next-gen.biz/. 2006-12-13. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4397&Itemid=2/. Retrieved 2007-01-20. 
  39. ↑ Washington Post: Pay Judgment Or Game Over, Sony Warned
  40. ↑ Official PS3 Firmware_v3.21 Update:
  41. ↑ playstation.com - Open Platform feature:
  42. ↑ Toms Hardware:
  43. ↑ US District Court for the Northern District of California:
  44. ↑ "Japanese couple sues Sony and Apple over burning battery". Engadget. 2007-07-25. http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/25/japanese-couple-sues-sony-and-apple-over-burning-battery/. Retrieved 2007-07-25. 
  45. ↑ "Dell Details on Notebook Battery Recall". Direct2Dell. 2006-08-14. http://www.direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2006/08/14/1803.aspx. Retrieved 2006-08-21. 
  46. ↑ "Dell announces recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries". CBC News. 2006-08-14. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/08/14/dell-recall.html. Retrieved 2006-09-28. 
  47. ↑ "Sony, Dell battery issue heats up". CBC News. 2006-08-24. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/08/24/tech-battery.html. Retrieved 2006-08-24. 
  48. ↑ "Apple announces recall of 1.8 million laptop batteries". CBC News. 2006-08-24. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2006/08/24/apple-recall.html. Retrieved 2006-09-28. 
  49. ↑ "Toshiba Recalls 340,000 Batteries, Trouble for Sony". Console Watcher. 2006-09-19. http://www.consolewatcher.com/2006/09/toshiba-recalls-340000-batteries-trouble-for-sony/. Retrieved 2006-11-06. 
  50. ↑ "Toshiba recalls laptop batteries". CBC News. 2006-09-19. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2006/09/19/tech-toshiba.html. Retrieved 2006-09-28. 
  51. ↑ "Sony investigates notebook fire". Reuters. 2006-09-23. Archived from the original on 2007-02-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20070206054144/http://money.excite.com/ht/nw/bus/20060923/hle_bus-t229782.html. Retrieved 2006-09-23. 
  52. ↑ "Lenovo recalls 526,000 laptop batteries". CBC News. 2006-09-28. http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2006/09/28/tech-lenovo-060928.html. Retrieved 2006-09-28. 
  53. ↑ Sony to Initiate Global Replacement Program for Notebook Computer Battery Pack, Sony Press Release, 28 September 2006.
  54. ↑ HP and Sony Joint Statement on Recent Battery Issues., Hewlett-Packard News Release, 2 October 2006.
  55. ↑ "Sony knew of faults in PC batteries in Dec., failed to fully study fire cause". Daily Yomiuri Online. 2006-10-03. Archived from the original on 2006-10-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20061021182435/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20061003TDY01006.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-03. 
  56. ↑ "Sony failed to fully study battery problem". Forbes.com. 2006-10-02. http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/10/02/afx3061270.html. Retrieved 2006-10-03. 
  57. ↑ "Fujitsu Recalls 287,000 Laptop Batteries". Console Watcher. 2006-10-16. http://www.consolewatcher.com/2006/10/fujitsu-recalls-287000-laptop-batteries/. Retrieved 2006-11-06. 
  58. ↑ "Fujitsu, Toshiba, Hitachi may seek compensation from Sony over battery recalls". Chicago Sun-Times. 2006-10-16. http://www.suntimes.com/business/98594,101606battery.article. Retrieved 2006-10-16. 
  59. ↑ "Acer finally gets sucked into Sony battery recall". Engadget. 2007-04-25. http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/25/acer-finally-gets-sucked-into-sony-battery-recall/. Retrieved 2007-06-29. 
  60. ↑ "Georgia Man's Laptop Bursts into Flames". http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/dell_fire.html. Retrieved 2007-08-24. 
  61. ↑ "HP, Dell, Toshiba Recall Sony Laptop Batteries Again". http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/153110/hp_dell_toshiba_recall_sony_laptop_batteries_again.html. Retrieved 2008-10-30. 
  62. ↑ Sony finds CCD problem with some of its digital cameras
  63. ↑ Sony Laptops Have Hardware Virtualization Disabled, Can't Run Windows 7's XP Mode
  64. ↑ Vaio Z Windows 7 Bios and driver
  65. ↑ "Guide to Greener Electronics". Greenpeace International. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/toxics/electronics/Guide-to-Greener-Electronics/. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  66. ↑ "Sony Global – Management of Chemical Substances in Products". Sony Corporation. http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/chemical/products/index.html#block3. Retrieved 2010-08-16. 
  67. ↑ History of Environmental Activities at Sony
  68. ↑ Sony Group Environmental Vision
  69. ↑ Sony develops World’s Most Powerful Sugar-based Bio Battery Prototype
  70. ↑ IHT.com, "Sony develops green flat-panel TV to woo ecological consumers".
  71. ↑ gmanews.tv/story, Sony woos ecological consumers with new flat-panel TV
  72. ↑ Kageyama, Yuri (2008-06-17). ""Sony develops green flat-panel TV to woo ecological consumers"". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/chi-green-flat-panel-tv-sony,0,2542612.story. Retrieved 2008-06-17. 
  73. ↑ Sony's PR War on Activists
  74. ↑ Sony hits bottom of Greenpeace eco rankings

Further reading

External links

Sony Corporation
Primary businesses
Sony Corporation (electronics & holding of the Sony group) · Sony Music Entertainment (music) · Sony Pictures Entertainment (motion pictures and television) · Sony Computer Entertainment (game) · Sony Financial Holdings (financial services; 60%)
Technologies and brands
α · Betacam · Blu-ray · BRAVIA · CD · Cyber-shot · Dash · DAT · Dream Machine · DVD · Handycam · HDCAM/HDCAM-SR · LocationFree · Memory Stick · MiniDisc · MiniDV · mylo · PlayStation · PSP · S/PDIF · SDDS · SXRD · UMD · VAIO · Video8/Hi8/Digital8 · Walkman · Walkman Phones · XDCAM · Xplōd
Historical products
AIBO · CV-2000 · Betamax · Sony CLIÉ · Discman · JumboTron · Lissa · Mavica · NEWS · Qualia · Rolly · SRS-17 · TR-55 · Trinitron · U-matic · Watchman · WEGA
Electronics
Sony Corporation · Sony EMCS · Sony Electronics (subsidiary in the US) · Sony Creative Software · Sony Ericsson (50%) · S-LCD (50% minus 1 share) · Sony Mobile Display · Sony Optiarc · Sharp Display Products (7%) · Aiwa
Music
Sony Music Entertainment · Sony/ATV Music Publishing (50%) · Columbia/Epic Label Group · RCA/Jive Label Group · Sony Music Nashville · Sony Masterworks · Legacy Recordings  · Syco Music  · Columbia Records UK  · RCA Label Group (UK)  · Provident Label Group  · RED Distribution  · Sony Music Japan  · Sony Music Latin  · Gracenote  · Qriocity
Motion pictures
and television
Sony Pictures Entertainment · Columbia Pictures · Sony Pictures Classics · Screen Gems · TriStar Pictures · Triumph Films · Destination Films · Stage 6 Films · Affirm Films · Sony Pictures Television · Adelaide Productions · Culver Entertainment · Embassy Row · The Minisode Network · Sony Pictures Television International · 2waytraffic · Sony Pictures Home Entertainment · Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group · Sony Wonder · Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group · Sony Pictures Digital · (Sony Pictures Imageworks · Sony Pictures Animation) · Syco TV  · Syco Film  · Sony Pictures Mobile · Sony Pictures Studios · Crackle · FEARnet · Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (20%)  · Aniplex · A-1 Pictures
U.S. networks
Game Show Network (50% joint venture with DirecTV) · Sony Movie Channel ·
International networks
Sony Entertainment Television (Asia, South East Asia, India, Latin America, South Africa, Portugal, Russia and Spain) · AXN · AXN Asia · AXN Crime · AXN Beyond · AXN Mystery · AXN Sci-Fi · Animax · Animax Asia · Animax India · Animax Korea · Animax Eastern Europe · SET One · SET Max · SET PIX · SAB TV · Sony Aath
Video games
Sony Financial Holdings · Sony Life Insurance · Sony Assurance · Sony Bank · Sony Bank Securities
Other businesses
So-net Entertainment · Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories
Other assets
Sony Corporation of America (umbrella company in the US) · Other subsidiaries
Joint ventures
Sony Ericsson · Sony/ATV · S-LCD · FeliCa Networks · Vevo · Cellius (49%) · Sharp Display Products (34% by April 2011)
Key personnel
Kazuo Hirai · Masaru Ibuka · Nobuyuki Idei · Yasuo Kuroki · Ken Kutaragi · Michael Lynton · Akio Morita · Norio Ohga · Amy Pascal · Howard Stringer
Consumer electronics in Japan

Akai · Alaxala Networks · Alinco · Alps · Alpine · Anritsu · AOR · Brother · Canon · Casio · Cateye · Chinon · Citizen Watch · Copal · Clarion · Contec · D&M Holdings · Daikin · Denso · DNP · DX Antenna · Eizo · Elpida · Epson · FANUC · Fostex · Fuji Electric · Fujikura · Fuji Xerox · Fujifilm · Fujitsu · Funai · Futaba · Hamamatsu Photonics · Hitachi · Hoya · I-O Data · Ibanez · Icom · Iwatsu · JEOL · JRC · JVC Kenwood Holdings · Kawai · Keyence · Kikusui · Kiramek · Konica Minolta · Korg · Kyocera · Luxman · Mabuchi Motor · Mamiya · Maspro · Maxell · Melco · Mimaki · Minebea · Mitsubishi · Mitsumi · Murata Manufacturing · Mutoh · Nakamichi · NEC · Nichia · Nikon · Nintendo · Nitto Denko · Oki · Olympus · Omron · Onkyo · Orion Electric · Panasonic · Pentax · Pioneer · Pixela · Plextor · Renesas · Ricoh · Rohm · Roland · Rubycon · Sansui · Sanyo · Sega Sammy Holdings · Seiko · Sharp · Shimadzu · SII · Sony · Stax · Sumitomo Electric · Sigma · Taiyo Yuden · Tamron · TEAC · TDK · Tiger · Toshiba · Uniden · Wacom  · Yaesu · Yagi-Uda · Yamaha · Yaskawa · Zojirushi · Zuken
TOPIX 100 companies of Japan
Core 30

7&i · Astellas · Canon · Honda · JFE · JR East · JT · KDDI · KEPCO · Komatsu · Mitsubishi Corporation · Mitsubishi Estate · Mitsui & Co. · Mizuho · MUFG · Nintendo · Nippon Steel · Nissan · Nomura · NTT · NTT docomo · Panasonic · Shin-Etsu · Sony · Sumitomo Mitsui Financial · Takeda · TEPCO · Tokio Marine · Toshiba · Toyota
Large 70

ÆON · AGC · Asahi Kasei · Bank of Yokohama · Bridgestone · Chubu Electric Power · Daiichi Sankyo · Daikin · Daiwa House · Daiwa Securities · Denso · DNP · Eisai · FANUC · Fujifilm · Fujitsu · Hitachi · Hoya · INPEX · Itochu · JR Central · JR West · Kao · Keyence · Kirin · Kobelco · Kubota · Kyocera · Kyushu Electric Power · Marubeni · Mitsubishi Chemical · Mitsubishi Electric · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Mitsui Fudosan · MOL · MSIG · Murata · NEC · Nidec · Nikon · Nippon Oil · Nitto Denko · ORIX · Resona · Ricoh · Rohm · Secom · Sekisui House · Sharp · Shiseido · SMC · SoftBank · Sompo Japan · Sumitomo Chemical · Sumitomo Corporation · Sumitomo Electric · Sumitomo Metal Mining · Sumitomo Metals · Sumitomo Realty · Sumitomo Trust · Suzuki · T&D · TDK · Tohoku Electric Power · Tokyo Electron · Tokyo Gas · Toppan · Toray · Yahoo! Japan · Yamada Denki