Sony was founded in 1946 in Tokyo as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo and initially produced tape recorders and the Walkman. It has since expanded into many sectors such as films, TVs, computers, cameras, video games and mobile phones. Some expansions occurred through partnerships like with Swedish company Ericsson for mobile phones. Sony's biggest success was the PlayStation game console, selling over 150 million units. However, some partnerships diluted Sony's brand and it fell behind competitors in areas like flat panel TVs. It now faces competition from companies like Apple, Microsoft, Canon and Nikon in its various product sectors.

1. MEDIA COMPANY CASE
STUDY
TASK 1 UNDERSTAND THE
STRUCTURE AND OWNERSHIP OF
THE MEDIA SECTOR
Denni Hepburn

2. Sony
Sony began in Tokyo in 1946. They began with the
name TTK, the initials of the company, ‘Tokyo Tsushin
Kogyo’. The acronym for this turned out to be, ‘Totsuko’.
However, this was in Japan, so when they vitiated USA,
they discovered that Americans had trouble
pronouncing it, therefore they changed it. They came up
with ‘Sony’ by ‘Sonus’ being a mixture of Sound and
Music, and ‘Sonny’ meaning ‘boy’ in the 1950s in
America.
Sony originated as a sound company, creating the Tape
recorder in Japan called Type-G. And created the
Walkman in 1979. From then they have generated in
many different sectors. This makes them a cross media
product. Sony are well known for the popular Play
Station in 1995. Sony have since produced cameras,
computering with the Vaio brand , TVs, films (Spider-
Man, The Karate Kid, and Men in Black) and
telecommunications. They have really taken over
electronics.

3. Created and Shared
Sony was created by two friends, Masaru Ibuka and
Aiko Morita. They came together with Vaio when
creating their brand of computers. With their mobile
brand they came togther with Swedish
telecommunications company Ericsson, therefore
becoming Sony Ericsson. Their most popular work was
the PlayStation. With this they didn’t come together with
any other company. They gained 61% of global console
sales by selling over 150 million units. This broke
Nintendo's long-standing lead in the market.

4. Vertically/Horizontally
Sony have mastered in many different sectors.
Sometimes vertically, with Vaio and Swedish
telecommunications company Ericsson. Them joining
up with these companies can be a good idea because
they share their skills and share the risk if their idea fall
through. However, sharing the profit may be unfair or
they may just not be getting enough when shared.
Sony have also worked horizontally when creating the
Play Station, Tape Recorder and the Walkman. This
can be a good plan because they will gain all the profit.
On the other hand, this can be a bad idea because if
they didn’t make any sales, it will just be their own
company at risk. This can leave them bankrupt.

5. Competitors
Sony’s competitors vary in their different sectors. In the
Film/TV industry, they come against FOX and Universal
Studios. In the telecommunications industry their
competition are people such as Apple and Blackberry.
In the game industry they come against Xbox and
Nintendo. With cameras they battle with Canon and
Nikon.
With Sony being a large company and working in so
many different industries, they won’t be threatened by
other large companies, such as, Apple.

6. Customers/demographic
Sony are more popular for their Play Station
1/2/3 and PSP, this is because it was the most
affordable game console it it’s time. With their
fast thoughts they came up with the PSP and
this is where they made most of their money.
This caught the eye of boys and men. The high
quality in the games were impressive and was
very high tech for a game device.

7. Changes in organisational
structure
Sony began by being a music company. They created the
first Walkman and the first Tape recorder. It was in 1995
when they came up with the Play Station 1. This was a
very big turn for Sony because it was the most popular
game console in it’s time. This was a very big change for
the company because they were going into a different
industry. After the release of the PS1, at the same time as
releasing the PS2 and 3, they began to team up with Vaio
when releasing the laptop. This can be a good idea for
most companies because it extends the brand, however, if
they are not familiar with the industry, they might not
satisfy their buyers.

8. Problems with Sony
The brand can take wrong turns when joining up with other
brands, it loses meaning, becoming a fine but not
distinctive player in the electronics world. This is a
problem. It’s not that much of a branding issue. Sony just
doesn’t have great products, according to reviews by
critics. It fell behind on the flat-panels, insisting on charging
high prices for mediocre products and let manufacturers
from other countries (Korea, Singapore) lead the way. It
had a failed and cumbersome partnership on the
smartphone front with Ericsson.

9. Bibliography
Nathan, John, Sony: The Private Life,
http://www.nndb.com/company/712/000053553/bibli
, 1999, Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
Simonandschuster.

10. Bibliography
Nathan, John, Sony: The Private Life,
http://www.nndb.com/company/712/000053553/bibli
, 1999, Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
Simonandschuster.