The Sony Corporation, stylised as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerates corporation chiefly focused on consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services.
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its four operating components: electronics, motion pictures, music and financial services.
On the global consumer as well as professional market, the Sony Corporation is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products.
Sony is one of the leading sellers of semiconductors.
When it comes to televisions, Sony is the 5th largest manufacture in the world, only Samsung, LG Electronics, TCL and Hisense are larger.
Background
In 1946, just after World War II, Masuru Ibuka opened an electronics shop in Tokyo, with a starting capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. Soon, Akio Morita joined Ibuka and they founded a company named Tokyo Tsunshin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). This company built the first Japanese tape recorder; the Type-G. In 1958, the company name was changed to Sony.
Corporate information
The Sony Corporation is a kabushiki gaisha registered to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan and on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States.
Data from the 30th of September 2017 show:
1,264,649,260 issued shares
484,812 shareholders
The five largest shareholders were:
Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (JAPAN)
10.7% (136,130,000)
Citigroup Inc. (USA)
8.7% (109,396,000)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (USA)
6.1% (77,467,000)
State Street Corporation (USA)
5.6% (71,767,000)
The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (JAPAN)
5.6% (70,720,000)
Short facts about the Sony Corporation
Japanese name
ソニー株式会社
Transcribed name
Sony Kabushiki Kaisha
English name
Sony Corporation
Former name
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK (1946-1957)
Company type
Public (K.K)
Industry
Conglomerate
Headquarters
Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Founded
In Tokyo, Japan on the 7th of May 1946
Founders
Masaru Ibuka Akio Morita
Traded as
TYO: 6758 NYSE: SNE
Index inclusion
TOPIX Core 30
Key products
Consumer electronics Semiconductors Video games Films Television programs Music Computer hardware Telecommunications equipment
