International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Sony is a leading global producer of consumer electronic equipment. Principal products include, among many others, home and portable audio, video cameras, digital cameras, Aiwa products, and home and portable gaming systems. Sony also is a producer of media content including recorded music, motion pictures (→  Cinema ), →  Television programs and →  video games . The company also has a fledgling financial services division, which offers insurance as well as →  Internet banking. Sony had revenues of approximately US$63.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2006, an increase of 4.4 percent over the previous year, and the company had operations in 150 countries worldwide. Sony's five business divisions were electronics, games, pictures, financial services, and other, with almost 64 percent of revenues generated by the electronics division ( Datamonitor 2006 ). Sony was established in Tokyo, Japan, in May 1946 as an electronics company, making its reputation for innovation starting with the first all-transistor radio in 1954. Over the decades, Sony became an international company, establishing divisions around the world including in the United States, Britain, and Germany. The company continued to innovate, with the Trinitron television introduced in 1968 and the Betamax VCR in 1975 (→  Video ), the Sony Walkman in 1979, the first CD player in 1982, and the first consumer camcorder ... log in or subscribe to read full text