Editing Akio Morita (section)

==Sony==
In September of 1945, Ibuka founded a radio repair shop in the bombed out [[Shirokiya]] Department Store in [[Nihonbashi]], Tokyo.<ref name=chap1/><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html | title=Chronology – About Akio Morita – Akio Morita Library | access-date=April 25, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211214320/http://www.akiomorita.net/en/profile/life.html | archive-date=February 11, 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Morita saw a newspaper article about Ibuka's new venture and, after some correspondence, chose to join him in Tokyo. With funding from Morita's father, they co-founded ''Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha'' (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, the forerunner of Sony Corporation) in 1946 with about 20 employees and initial capital of ¥190,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199801/ibuka-e.html|title=Sony Global – Press Release – Masaru Ibuka 1908–1997|website=www.sony.net|access-date=May 6, 2017|archive-date=May 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504010811/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/199801/ibuka-e.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=chap1>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/1-01.html|title=Sony Global – Sony History Chapter 1 Rebuilding from the Ashes|website=www.sony.net|language=en|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122131354/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/1-01.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1949, the company developed [[Magnetic tape|magnetic recording tape]] and, in 1950, sold the first [[tape recorder]] in Japan. Ibuka was instrumental in securing the licensing of [[transistor]] technology from [[Bell Labs]] to Sony in the 1950s,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.goldmercury.org/leadership/masaru-ibuka/|title=Masaru Ibuka|work=Gold Mercury International|access-date=June 21, 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=December 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203164404/http://www.goldmercury.org/leadership/masaru-ibuka/|url-status=dead}}</ref> thus making Sony one of the first companies to apply transistor technology to non-military uses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://prezi.com/opzltzlkth1y/masaru-ibuka/|title=Masaru Ibuka|website=prezi.com|language=en|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-date=July 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708162358/https://prezi.com/opzltzlkth1y/masaru-ibuka/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1957, the company produced a pocket-sized radio (the first to be fully transistorized), and in 1958, Morita and Ibuka decided to rename their company [[Sony]] (derived from "sonus"—[[Latin]] for "sound"—and "sonny", a then-common American expression).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Akio_Morita |title=Akio Morita |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |access-date=July 21, 2011 |archive-date=September 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926015942/http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Akio_Morita |url-status=live }}</ref> Morita was an advocate for all the products made by Sony. However, since the radio was slightly too big to fit in a shirt pocket, Morita made his employees wear shirts with slightly larger pockets to give the radio a "pocket sized" appearance.
[[File:Akio Morita e Laudo Natel (1972).jpg|thumb|Morita presenting a Sony [[Trinitron]] to [[São Paulo|São Paulo]] governor [[Laudo Natel]] in 1972.]]
Morita founded Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, currently abbreviated as SCA) in 1960.<ref name="Nobuo">{{cite news|title=Pioneering firm upsets Japan hiring: Pattern broken|author=Nobuo Abiko|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=March 26, 1966|page=14}}</ref> In the process, he was struck by the mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time.<ref name="Nobuo" /> When he returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers and consider joining Sony.<ref name="Nobuo" /> The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese companies to do the same.<ref name="Nobuo" /> In 1961, Sony Corporation was the first Japanese company to be listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]], in the form of [[American depositary receipt]]s (ADRs).

In March 1968, Morita set up a joint venture in Japan between Sony and [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]], with him as president, to manufacture "software" for Sony's hardware.<ref name=chap22>{{cite web|title=Sony History Chapter 22 CBS/Sony Records is Established in First Round of Capital Deregulation|url=https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-22.html|website=www.sony.net|access-date=May 7, 2020|archive-date=September 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921011042/https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/SonyHistory/2-22.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Morita became president of Sony in 1971,<ref name=var>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|page=3|date=October 4, 1999|title=Sony co-founder Morita dies}}</ref> taking over from Ibuka who had served from 1950 to 1971.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/20/business/masaru-ibuka-89-engineer-and-sony-co-founder-dies.html|title=Masaru Ibuka, 89, Engineer And Sony Co-Founder, Dies|last=Sterngold|first=James|date=December 20, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 13, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328193245/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/20/business/masaru-ibuka-89-engineer-and-sony-co-founder-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1975, Sony released the first [[Betamax]] home [[videocassette recorder]], a year before the [[VHS]] format came out.

Ibuka retired in 1976<ref name=":0" /> and Morita was named chairman of the company.<ref name=var/> In 1979, the [[Walkman]] was introduced, making it one of the world's first portable music players and in 1982, Sony launched the world's first [[compact disc player]], the [[Sony CDP-101]], with a [[compact disc]] (CD) itself, a new data storage format Sony and [[Philips]] co-developed.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Photos: The history of the digital camera|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/photos-the-history-of-the-digital-camera/|last=Trenholm|first=Richard|website=[[CNET]]|language=en|access-date=April 30, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016091943/https://www.cnet.com/news/photos-the-history-of-the-digital-camera/|url-status=live}}</ref> In that year, a 3.5-inch [[floppy disk]] structure was introduced by Sony, and it soon became the [[defacto]] standard. In 1984, Sony launched the [[Discman]] series, which extended their Walkman brand to portable CD products.

Under the vision of Morita,<ref name="Fackler">{{cite news|author=Fackler, Martin|title=Cutting Sony, a Corporate Octopus, Back to a Rational Size|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=C.1|date=May 29, 2006}}</ref> the company aggressively expanded into new businesses.<ref name="Christian" /> Part of its motivation for doing so was the pursuit of "convergence", linking film, music and digital electronics.<ref name="Christian">{{cite news|last1=Caryl|first1=Christian|last2=Takayama|first2=Hideko|last3=Itoi|first3=Kay|last4=Wehrfritz|first4=George|last5=Sparks|first5=John|last6=Hastings|first6=Michael|title=Sony is Not Japan; the Appointment of a Foreign CEO is a Sign of how Far the Iconic Company has Fallen in the Japanese Corporate Elite|work=[[Newsweek]]|date=March 21, 2005|pages=30–}}</ref> Twenty years after setting up a joint venture with CBS Records in Japan, Sony bought CBS Records Group<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-11-19-fi-22750-story.html | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | first1=Paul | last1=Richter | first2=William K. | last2=Knoedeiseder Jr | title=Sony Buys CBS Record Division for $2 Billion After Months of Talks | date=November 19, 1987 | archive-date=October 15, 2016 | access-date=August 14, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015214717/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-11-19/business/fi-22750_1_cbs-records | url-status=live }}</ref> which consisted of [[Columbia Records]], [[Epic Records]] and other CBS labels. In 1989, they acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment ([[Columbia Pictures]], [[TriStar Pictures]] and others).<ref name=chap22/>

[[Norio Ohga]], who had joined the company in the 1950s after sending Morita a letter denouncing the poor quality of the company's tape recorders, succeeded Morita as [[chief executive officer]] in 1989.<ref name=stonybrook>{{cite web|url=https://stonybrook.digication.com/navaldeep_singh/Investigate_and_Analyze_the_company_s_History_and_|title=Digication e-Portfolio :: Navaldeep Singh :: Investigate and Analyze the company's History and Growth|website=stonybrook.digication.com|language=en|access-date=June 4, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025232223/https://stonybrook.digication.com/navaldeep_singh/Investigate_and_Analyze_the_company_s_History_and_|url-status=live}}</ref>

Morita suffered a [[cerebral hemorrhage]] in 1993 while playing tennis<ref name=var/> and on November 25, 1994, stepped down as Sony chairman to be succeeded by Ohga.