Sony

Sony
Sony Corporation

Type

Public

Traded as

[1]
TYO: 6758
[2]
NYSE:SNE

Industry

Conglomerate

Founded

7 May 1946

Founder(s)

Masaru Ibuka
Akio Morita

Headquarters

Minato, Tokyo, Japan

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Sir Howard Stringer

(Chairman of the Board)
Kazuo Hirai
(President & CEO)
Ryji Chbachi
(Vice Chairman)

Products

Consumer electronics
Semiconductors
Video games
Media/Entertainment
Computer hardware
Telecom equipment

Services

Financial services, insurance, banking, credit finance and advertising agency

[3]

Revenue

6.395 trillion (2012)

Operating income

-70 billion (2012)

Net income

-456 billion (2012)

Total assets

13.29 trillion (2012)

Total equity

2.028 trillion (2012)

[4]

[4]
[4]
[4]
[4]

[5]

Employees

162,700 (2012)

Subsidiaries

List of subsidiaries

Website

Sony.net

[6]

Sony Corporation ( Son Kabushiki Gaisha) (TYO: 6758 [1], NYSE:SNE [2]), commonly
referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Knan Minato, Tokyo,
Japan.[7] It ranked 73 on the 2011 list of Fortune Global 500.[4][8] Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of

Sony
electronics products for the consumer and professional markets.[9]
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in
business through its four operating segments Electronics (including video games, network services and medical
business), Motion pictures, Music and Financial Services.[10][11][12] 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 Mobile Communications (formerly Sony Ericsson), and Sony Financial. As a semiconductor
maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.
The Sony Group ( Son Gurpu) is a Japan-based corporate group primarily focused
on the Electronics (such as AV/IT products and components), Game (such as PlayStation), Entertainment (such as
motion pictures and music), and Financial Services (such as insurance and banking) sectors. The group consists of
Sony Corporation (holding and electronics), Sony Computer Entertainment (game), Sony Pictures Entertainment
(motion pictures), Sony Music Entertainment (music), Sony/ATV Music Publishing (music publishing), Sony
Financial Holdings (financial services) and others.
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.[9]

History
Sony found its beginning in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in a
bomb-damaged department store building in Tokyo. The company had $530 in capital and a total of eight
employees.[13] The next year, he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo[14][15] (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's
first tape recorder, called the Type-G.[15]
In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs' invention of the transistor.[15] He
convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company, for use in communications. Ibuka's
company made the first commercially successful transistor radios.[16][17] According to Schiffer, Sony's TR-63 radio
"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 million units by the end of 1968.
Sony co-founder Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America in 1960.[13] In the process, he was struck by the
mobility of employees between American companies, which was unheard of in Japan at that time.[13] When he
returned to Japan, he encouraged experienced, middle-aged employees of other companies to reevaluate their careers
and consider joining Sony.[13] The company filled many positions in this manner, and inspired other Japanese
companies to do the same.[13] Moreover, Sony played a major role in the development of Japan as a powerful
exporter during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.[18] It also helped to significantly improve American perceptions of "made in
Japan" products.[19] Known for its production quality, Sony was able to charge above-market prices for its consumer
electronics and resisted lowering prices.[19]
In 1971, Masaru Ibuka handed the position of president over to his co-founder Akio Morita. Sony began a life
insurance company in 1979, one of its many peripheral businesses. Amid a global recession in the early 1980s,
electronics sales dropped and the company was forced to cut prices.[19] Sony's profits fell sharply. "It's over for
Sony," one analyst concluded. "The company's best days are behind it."[19] Around that time, Norio Ohga took up
the role of president. He encouraged the development of the Compact Disc in the 1970s and 80s, and of the
PlayStation in the early 1990s. Ohga went on to purchase CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989,
greatly expanding Sony's media presence. Ohga would succeed Morita as chief executive officer in 1989.

Sony
Under the vision of co-founder Akio Morita[20] and his successors, the
company had aggressively expanded into new businesses.[18] Part of its
motivation for doing so was the pursuit of "convergence," linking film,
music, and digital electronics via the Internet.[18] This expansion
proved unrewarding and unprofitable,[18] threatening Sony's ability to
charge a premium on its products[20] as well as its brand name.[20] In
2005, Howard Stringer replaced Nobuyuki Idei as chief executive
officer, marking the first time that a foreigner has run a major Japanese
Sony Group Headquarters at Sony City in
electronics firm. Stringer helped to reinvigorate the company's
Minato, Tokyo
struggling media businesses, encouraging blockbusters such as
Spider-Man while cutting 9,000 jobs.[18] He hoped to sell off
peripheral business and focus the company again on electronics.[20] Furthermore, he aimed to increase cooperation
between business units,[20] which he described as "silos" operating in isolation from one another.[21] In a bid to
provide a unified brand for its global operations, Sony introduced a slogan known as "make.believe" in 2009.
Despite some successes, the company faced continued struggles in the mid- to late-2000s.[18] It became known for its
stagnancy, with a fading brand name.[18] In 2012 Kazuo Hirai began as CEO and president.

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.[15] 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 Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company
already using Teletech as a brand name.[22]
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.[9] 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.[23]
At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name
instead of writing it in kanji. 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.[15]

Formats and technologies

Further information: List of Sony trademarks
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 marketbase 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 television industry, although far less so in recent years with the introduction of
digital and high definition.

Sony

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 (CD) format. In 1983 Sony
introduced 90mm micro diskettes (better known as 3.5-inch
(unknown operator: u'strong'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 (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
4mm DAT or Digital Audio Tape as a new digital audio tape standard.

Sony co-developed the Compact Disc, one of the

most popular storage formats for digital
information.

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.[24]
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.
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.
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 recording and access), 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
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 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 of the Blu-ray Disc optical disc format, the newest standard for disc-based
content delivery. The format 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 2006. By the end of 2007 the
format had the backing of every major motion picture studio except Universal, Paramount, and
DreamWorks.[25][26][27] 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 in 2008. Now, all
major studios support Blu-ray and release their films on the format.

Business units
Sony offers a number of products in a variety of product lines around the world.[28] Sony has developed a music
playing robot called Rolly, dog-shaped robots called AIBO, humanoids, and QRIO.

Electronics
Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group. It primarily conducts
strategic business planning of the group, research and development (R&D), planning, designing and marketing for
electronics products. Its subsidiaries such as Sony EMCS Corporation, Sony Semiconductor Corporation and Sony
Chemical & Information Device Corporation are responsible for manufacturing as well as product engineering and
R&D for mass production (Sony EMCS is also responsible for customer service operations). In 2012, Sony
incorporated rolled most of its consumer content services (including video, music, and gaming) into the Sony
Entertainment Network.
Audio

Sony

6
Sony produced the world's first portable music player, the Walkman in
1979. This line fostered a fundamental change in music listening habits
by allowing people to carry music with them and listen to music
through lightweight headphones. Walkman originally referred to
portable audio cassette players. The company now uses the Walkman
brand to market its portable audio and video players as well as a line of
former Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

The Walkman ushered in a new era of portability

for music listening.

Sony utilized a related brand, Discman, to refer to its CD players. It

dropped this name in the late 1990s.

Computing
Sony sells many of its computer products using the VAIO brand.
Sony produced computers (MSX home computers and NEWS
workstations) during the 1980s, exclusively for sale in the Japanese
market. The company withdrew from the computer business around
1990. Sony entered again into the global computer market under the
new VAIO brand, began in 1996. Short for "Video Audio Integrated
Operation," the line was the first computer brand to highlight
visual-audio features.[21]

Sony produces a line of laptops branded as

VAIO.

Sony faced considerable controversy when some of its laptop batteries

exploded and caught fire in 2006.[29], resulting in the largest computer-related recall to that point in
history.[30][31][32]
In a bid to join the tablet computer market, the company launched its Sony Tablet series in 2011. The machines run
on Google Android software.
Photography
Sony offers a range of digital cameras. Point-and-shoot models adopt
the Cyber-shot name, while digital single-lens reflex models are
branded using Alpha.
The first Cyber-shot was introduced in 1996. At the time, digital
cameras were a relative novelty. Sony's market share of the digital
camera market fell from a high of 20% to 9% by 2005.[21]
Sony produces a consumer-oriented line of digital
cameras branded as Cyber-shot.

Canon and Nikon.

Sony entered the market for digital single-lens reflex cameras in 2006
when it acquired the camera business of Konica Minolta. Sony
rebranded the company's line of cameras as its Alpha line. Sony is the
world's third largest manufacturer of the cameras, behind leaders

Sony

Video
In 1968 Sony introduced the Trinitron brand name for its lines of
aperture grille cathode ray tube televisions and (later) computer
monitors. Sony stopped production of Trinitron for most markets, but
continued producing sets for markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and
China. Sony discontinued its series of Trinitron computer monitors in
2005. The company discontinued the last Trinitron-based television set
in the USA in early 2007. The end of Trinitron marked the end of
Sony's analog television sets and monitors.
Sony's BRAVIA line of televisions replaces the
Sony used the LCD WEGA name for its LCD TVs until summer 2005.
Trinitron and WEGA series.
The company then introduced the BRAVIA name. BRAVIA is an in
house brand owned by Sony which produces high-definition LCD
televisions, projection TVs and front projectors, home cinemas and the BRAVIA home theatre range. All Sony
high-definition flat-panel LCD televisions in North America have carried the logo for BRAVIA since 2005. Sony is
the third-largest maker of televisions in the world.[33] As of 2012, Sony's television business has been unprofitable
for eight years.[33]

In December 2011, Sony agreed to sell all stake in an LCD joint venture with Samsung Electronics for about
$940million.[34] On 28 March 2012, Sony Corporation and Sharp Corporation announced that they have agreed to
further amend the joint venture agreement originally executed by the parties in July 2009, as amended in April 2011,
for the establishment and operation of Sharp Display Products Corporation ("SDP"), a joint venture to produce and
sell large-sized LCD panels and modules[35]
Sony also sells a range of DVD players. It has shifted its focus in recent years to promoting the Blu-ray format,
including discs and players.
Sony Mobile Communications
Sony Mobile Communications AB (formerly Sony Ericsson Mobile
Communications AB) is a multinational mobile phone manufacturing
company headquartered in London, United Kingdom and a wholly
owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation.
In 2001, Sony entered into a joint venture with Swedish
telecommunications company Ericsson, forming Sony Ericsson.[36]
Initial sales were rocky, and the company posted losses in 2001 and
2002. However, SMC reached a profit in 2003. Sony Ericsson
distinguished itself with multimedia-capable mobile phones, which
included features such as cameras. These were unusual for the time.
Despite their innovations, SMC faced intense competition from Apple's
iPhone, released in 2007. From 2008 to 2010, amid a global recession,
SMC slashed its workforce by several thousand. Sony acquired
Ericsson's share of the venture in 2012 for over US$1 billion.[36] In
2009, SMC was the fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the
world (after Nokia, Samsung and LG).[37] By 2010, its market share
had fallen to sixth place.[38] Sony Mobile Communications now
focuses exclusively on the smartphone market.

Sony Ericsson sold a variety of mobile phones

before it became Sony Mobile Communications.

Sony

Sony Computer Entertainment

Sony Computer Entertainment is best known for producing the popular
line of PlayStation consoles. The line grew out of a failed partnership
with Nintendo. Originally, Nintendo requested for Sony to develop an
add-on for its console that would play Compact Discs. In 1991 Sony
announced the add-on, as well as a dedicated console known as the
"Play Station." However, a disagreement over software licensing for
the console caused the partnership to fall through. Sony then continued
the project independently.
Launched in 1994, the first PlayStation gained 61% of global console
sales and broke Nintendo's long-standing lead in the market.[39] Sony
followed up with the PlayStation 2 in 2000, which was even more
successful. The console has become the most successful of all time,
selling over 150million units as of 2011. Sony released the PlayStation
3, a high-definition console, in 2006. It was the first console to use the
The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling video game
Blu-ray format, although its expensive[21] Cell processor made it
console of all time.
considerably more expensive than competitors Xbox 360 and Wii.
Early on, poor sales performance resulted in significant losses for the
company, pushing it to sell the console at a loss.[40] The PlayStation 3 has generally sold more poorly than those
competitors, although not by a large margin. It later introduced the PlayStation Move, an accessory that allows
players to control video games using motion gestures.
Sony extended the brand to the portable games market in 2005 with the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The console has
sold reasonably, but has taken a second place to a rival handheld, the Nintendo DS. Sony developed the Universal
Media Disc (UMD) optical disc medium for use on the PlayStation Portable. Early on, the format was used for
movies, but it has since lost major studio support. Sony released a disc-less version of its PlayStation Portable, the
PSP Go. The company went on to release its second portable video game system, PlayStation Vita, in 2011 and
2012.
Sony Online Entertainment operates online services for PlayStation, as well as several other online games. In 2011
hackers broke into the PlayStation Network online service, stealing the personal information of 77million account
holders.

Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (SPE) is the television and film
production/distribution unit of Sony. With 12.5% box office market
share in 2011, the company was ranked 3rd among movie studios.[41]
Its group sales in 2010 were US$7.2 billion.[11][42] The company has
produced many notable movie franchises, including Spider-Man, The
Karate Kid, and Men in Black. It has also produced popular television
game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
Sony entered the television and film production market when it
acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1989 for $3.4 billion.

Sony Pictures produces well known series

including Spider-Man and Men in Black.

Sony

Columbia lives on in the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of SPE which in turn owns TriStar
Pictures and Columbia Pictures. SPE's television division is known as Sony Pictures Television.
For the first several years of its existence, Sony Pictures Entertainment performed poorly, leading many to suspect
the company would sell off the division.[43] Sony Pictures Entertainment encountered controversy in the early 2000s.
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.[44] Sony later pulled the ads, suspended Manning's creator and his supervisor and
paid fines to the state of Connecticut[45] and to fans who saw the reviewed films in the US.[46] In 2006 Sony started
using ARccOS Protection on some of their film DVDs, but later issued a recall.[47]
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (also known as SME or Sony Music) is the
second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record
companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United
States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation. The company owns full or
partial rights to the catalogues of Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Usher,
Eminem, Akon, and others.
In one of its largest-ever acquisitions, Sony purchased CBS Record Group in
1987 for US$2 billion. In the process, Sony gained the rights to the catalogue
of Michael Jackson, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be
the most successful entertainer of all time. The acquisition of CBS Records
provided the foundation for the formation of Sony Music Entertainment,
which Sony established in 1991.
In 2004, Sony entered into a joint venture with Bertelsmann AG, merging
Sony Music Entertainment with Bertelsmann Music Group to create Sony
Usher is among the high-profile Sony
BMG. In 2005, Sony BMG faced a copy protection scandal, because its music
Music artists.
CDs had installed a controversial feature on users' computers[48] that posing a
security risk to affected users. In 2007, the company acquired Famous Music for US$370 million, gaining the rights
to the catalogues of Eminem and Akon, among others.
Sony bought out Bertelsmann's share in the company and formed a new Sony Music Entertainment in 2008. Since
then, the company has undergone management changes.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Besides its record label, Sony operates other music businesses. In 1995, Sony purchased a 50% stake in ATV Music
Publishing, forming Sony/ATV Music Publishing. At the time, the publishing company was the second-largest of its
kind in the world. The company owns much of the publishing rights to the catalogue of The Beatles. Sony purchased
digital music recognition company Gracenote for US$260 million in 2008.

Finance
Sony Financial Services
Sony Financial Holdings Inc. (
Son Finansharu Hrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 8729 [49]) is a holding company for Sony's financial
services business. It owns and oversees the operation of Sony Life (in Japan and the Philippines), Sony Assurance,
Sony Bank, Sony Bank Securities. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Sony
Sony Financial accounts for half of Sony's global earnings.[50] The unit proved the most profitable of Sony's
businesses in fiscal year 2006, earning $1.7 billion in profit.[20] Sony Financial's low fees have aided the unit's
popularity while threatening Sony's premium brand name.[20]

Corporate information
Finances
Sony is one of Japan's largest corporations by revenue. It had revenues of 6.395
trillion in 2012. It also maintains large reserves of cash, with 13.29 trillion on
hand as of 2012. In May 2012, Sony shares were valued at about $15 billion.[51]
The company was immensely profitable throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, in
part because of the success of its new PlayStation line. The company
Sony's current president and chief
encountered financial difficulty in the mid- to late-2000s due to a number of
executive officer Kazuo Hirai
factors: the global financial crisis, increased competition for PlayStation, and the
Japanese earthquake. The company faced three consecutive years of losses
leading up to 2011.[52] While noting the negative effects of intervening circumstances such as natural disasters and
fluctuating currency exchange rates,[52] the Financial Times criticized the company for its "lack of resilience" and
"inability to gauge the economy."[52] The newspaper voiced skepticism about Sony's revitalization efforts, given a
lack of tangible results.[52]
In September 2000 Sony had a market capitalization of $100billion; but by December 2011 it had plunged to
$18billion, reflecting falling prospects for Sony but also reflecting grossly inflated share prices of the 'dot.com'
years.[53] Net worth, as measured by stockholder equity, has steadily grown from $17.9billion in March 2002 to
$35.6billion through December 2011.[54] Earnings yield (inverse of the price to earnings ratio) has never been more
than 5% and usually much less; thus Sony has always traded in over-priced ranges with the exception of the 2009
market bottom.
In April 2012 Sony announced that it would reduce its workforce by 10,000 (6% of its employee base) as part of
CEO Hirai's effort to get the company back into the green. This came after a loss of 520billion yen (roughly
US$6.36 billion) for fiscal 2012, the worst since the company was founded. Accumulation loss for the past four
years was 919.32billion-yen.[55][56] Sony plans to increase its marketing expenses by 30% in 2012.[57]

Regional segmentation
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.[58]

10

Sony

11

Sony's 2009 sales and distribution by geographical region[59]

Geographic region Total sales (yen in millions)
Japan

1,873,219

United States

2,512,345

Europe

2,307,658

Other Area

2,041,270

On 9 December 2008, Sony Corporation announced that it would be cutting 8,000 jobs, dropping 8,000 contractors
and reducing its global manufacturing sites by 10% to save $1.1billion per year.[60]

Environmental record
In November 2011, Sony was ranked 9th (jointly with Panasonic) in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics.
This chart grades major electronics companies on their environmental work. The company scored 3.6/10, incurring a
penalty point for comments it has made in opposition to energy efficiency standards in California. It also risks a
further penalty point in future editions for being a member of trade associations that have commented against energy
efficiency standards.[61] Together with Philips, Sony receives the highest score for energy policy advocacy after
calling on the EU to adopt an unconditional 30% reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Meanwhile,
it receives full marks for the efficiency of its products.[61] In 2007, Sony ranked 14th on the Greenpeace guide. Sony
fell from its earlier 11th place ranking due to Greenpeace's claims that Sony had double standards in their waste
policies.[62]
Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference.[63] 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".[64] 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" allow 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.[65]
In 2000, Sony faced criticism 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.[66]

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

http:/ / quote. tse. or. jp/ tse/ quote. cgi?F=listing%2FEDetail1& MKTN=T& QCODE=6758
http:/ / www. nyse. com/ about/ listed/ quickquote. html?ticker=sne
"Sony Global Corporate Information" (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ ). . Retrieved 11 June 2010.
"Consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended March 2012, Sony Corporation" (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ IR/ financial/ fr/
11q4_sony. pdf) (PDF). .
[5] http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/
[6] http:/ / www. sony. net/
[7] " Access & Map (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ Data/ Map/ index. html)." Sony Global. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
"171 Konan Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan" Map (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ Data/ Map/ map_head_office.
pdf) Address in Japanese (http:/ / www. sony. jp/ CorporateCruise/ SMOJ-info/ Profile. html): "108-0075
171"

Sony
[8] "Fortune Global 500 2011: The World's Biggest Companies" (http:/ / money. cnn. com/ magazines/ fortune/ global500/ 2011/ snapshots/
6640. html). CNN. .
[9] Sony Corporate History (Japanese) (http:/ / www. sony. co. jp/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ History/ ). Sony.co.jp. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[10] Organization Data (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ Data/ organization. html). Sony.net. Retrieved on 2012-04-25.
[11] Business Overview, Annual Report 2010 (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ IR/ financial/ ar/ 8ido18000003dkyy-att/ 8ido18000003dl0u.
pdf). (PDF) . Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[12] Organization Data (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ Data/ organization. html). Sony.net. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[13] Pioneering firm upsets Japan hiring: Pattern broken. By Nobuo Abiko Staff correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian
Science Monitor (1908-Current file); Mar 26, 1966; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor (1908-1998) pg. 14
[14] "World: Asia-Pacific Sony co-founder dies" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ asia-pacific/ 463906. stm). BBC. October 3, 1999. . Retrieved
May 27, 2012.
[15] "Sony Global Sony History" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20061128064313/ http:/ / www. sony. net/ Fun/ SH/ 1-1/ h2. html). Archived
from the original (http:/ / www. sony. net/ Fun/ SH/ 1-1/ h2. html) on 28 November 2006. . Retrieved 16 February 2007.
[16] Hongo, Jun, " Once one and only, Sony seeks to regain that status (http:/ / www. japantimes. co. jp/ text/ nn20120522i1. html)", Japan
Times, 22 May 2012, p. 3
[17] "Sony Global Product & Technology Milestones-Radio" (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ History/ sonyhistory-b. html).
. Retrieved 16 December 2002.
[18] Christian, Caryl, and With Hideko Takayama and Kay Itoi in Tokyo, George Wehrfritz in Hong Kong, John Sparks and Michael Hastings
in,New York. "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." Newsweek Mar 21 2005: 30-. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 May 2012.
[19] Lohr, Steve. "Hard-Hit Sony Girds for a Fight in the American Electronics Market." New York Times: A.8. New York Times. Aug 14 1983.
Web. 26 May 2012.
[20] Fackler, Martin. "Cutting Sony, a Corporate Octopus, Back to a Rational Size." New York Times: C.1. New York Times. May 29 2006.
Web. 27 May 2012.
[21] Nakamoto, Michiyo. "Screen Test: Stringers Strategy Will Signal to what Extent Sony can Stay in the Game CONSUMER
ELECTRONICS: The Japanese Company that Once Brought the World Market-Defining Products is being Trounced by More Agile
Competitors and must Decide which Activities no Longer Form Part of its Future, Writes Michiyo Nakamoto." Financial Times: 17.
ABI/INFORM Global. Sep 21 2005. Web. 27 May 2012.
[22] Made in Japan Akio Morita and Sony (pg. 76) by Akio Morita with [mzik indir] mzik indir (http:/ / www. indiristan. net/ ) Edwin M.
Rheingold and Mitsuko Shimomura, Signet Books, 1986
[23] Sony.co.uk. About Sony. ''The History of the Sony Corporation'' (http:/ / www. sony. co. uk/ article/ id/ 1060176719725). Sony.co.uk.
Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[24] "Sony History on development of Magneto Optical Discs" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20061224013537/ http:/ / www. sony. net/ Fun/
SH/ 1-21/ h4. html). 2007. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. sony. net/ Fun/ SH/ 1-21/ h4. html) on 24 December 2006. . Retrieved 6
February 2007.
[25] Stuart, Keith (22 August 2007). "Paramount drops Blu-ray, Michael Bay drops Paramount" (http:/ / blogs. guardian. co. uk/ games/ archives/
2007/ 08/ 22/ paramount_drops_bluray_michael_bay_drops_paramount. html). The Guardian (London). . Retrieved 22 August 2007.
[26] Veiga, Alex (20 August 2007). "Paramount to Drop Blu-Ray High-Def DVDs" (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/
article/ 2007/ 08/ 20/ AR2007082000687. html). The Washington Post. . Retrieved 20 August 2007.
[27] "High-Definition Disc Disarray (Cont'd.)" (http:/ / blog. washingtonpost. com/ fasterforward/ 2007/ 08/ highdefinition_disc_disarray_c.
html). The Washington Post. 2007. . Retrieved 22 August 2007.
[28] Sony Group Organization Chart (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ CorporateInfo/ Data/ organization. html)
[29] "Japanese couple sues Sony and Apple over burning battery" (http:/ / www. engadget. com/ 2007/ 07/ 25/
japanese-couple-sues-sony-and-apple-over-burning-battery/ ). Engadget. 25 July 2007. . Retrieved 25 July 2007.
[30] "Dell Details on Notebook Battery Recall" (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20060820160832/ http:/ / www. direct2dell. com/ one2one/
archive/ 2006/ 08/ 14/ 1803. aspx). Direct2Dell. 14 August 2006. Archived from the original (http:/ / www. direct2dell. com/ one2one/
archive/ 2006/ 08/ 14/ 1803. aspx) on 20 August 2006. . Retrieved 21 August 2006.
[31] "Dell announces recall of 4.1million laptop batteries" (http:/ / www. cbc. ca/ world/ story/ 2006/ 08/ 14/ dell-recall. html). CBC News. 14
August 2006. . Retrieved 28 September 2006.
[32] "Sony, Dell battery issue heats up" (http:/ / www. cbc. ca/ technology/ story/ 2006/ 08/ 24/ tech-battery. html). CBC News. 24 August 2006.
. Retrieved 24 August 2006.
[33] http:/ / www. bloomberg. com/ news/ 2012-05-23/ sony-samsung-ask-u-s-retailers-to-curb-discounts-on-tv-sets. html
[34] "Sony sells $940m LCD stake to Samsung to slash TV losses." (http:/ / gulfnews. com/ business/ technology/
sony-sells-940m-lcd-stake-to-samsung-to-slash-tv-losses-1. 957299). . Retrieved 27 December 2011.
[35] Sony and Sharp in LCD panel joint venture (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ News/ Press/ 201203/ 12-0328E/ ).
[36] "Sony and Ericsson complete joint venture agreement" (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ News/ Press_Archive/ 200108/ 01-0828/ ) (Press
release). Sony. August 28, 2001. . Retrieved May 26, 2012.
[37] nonmember (http:/ / www. telecomskorea. com/ market-8211. html). Telecoms Korea. Retrieved on July 11, 2011.

12

Sony
[38] "Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users Reached 1.6billion Units in 2010; Smartphone Sales Grew 72 Percent in 2010:
Apple and RIM Displaced Sony Ericsson and Motorola in Mobile Device Manufacturers Ranking" (http:/ / www. gartner. com/ it/ page.
jsp?id=1543014). gartner.com. February 9, 2011. .
[39] "The PlayStation Quest." Macleans Nov 06 2000: 81-. ABI/INFORM Global; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 27 May 2012.
[40] Pilling, David. "Camera Sales Raise Sonys Game." Financial Times: 23. ABI/INFORM Global. Jul 27 2007. Web. 27 May 2012.
[41] http:/ / boxofficemojo. com/ studio/ ?view=company& view2=yearly& yr=2011& p=. htm
[42] Sony Pictures Corporate Factsheet (http:/ / www. sonypictures. com/ corp/ corporatefact. html), sonypictures.com
[43] Bates, James, and Claudia Eller. "Sony President Puts Best Face on Studio Woes." Los Angeles Times: D1. Los Angeles Times. Nov 20
1996. Web. 26 May 2012.
[44] "Legal fight over fake film critic" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ entertainment/ film/ 3524759. stm). BBC News. 2 March 2004. .
[45] Emanuella Grinberg (9 March 2004). "Moviegoers to settle with studio after being lured by phony critic" (http:/ / www. cnn. com/ 2004/
LAW/ 03/ 09/ phony. critic/ index. html). Cable News Network. .
[46] "Sony pays $1.5m over fake critic" (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 2/ hi/ 4741259. stm). BBC News. 3 August 2005. .
[47] Sony admits, fixes problem with DVD DRM (http:/ / arstechnica. com/ news. ars/ post/ 20070418-sony-to-replace-incompatible-dvds. html).
Arstechnica.com.
[48] Sony BMG Litigation Info (http:/ / www. eff. org/ IP/ DRM/ Sony-BMG/ ). EFF.org. Electronic Frontier Foundation.
[49] http:/ / quote. tse. or. jp/ tse/ quote. cgi?F=listing%2FEDetail1& MKTN=T& QCODE=8729
[50] Tim Clark and, Carl K. "Out of Service." New York Times: A.25. New York Times. Mar 09 2005. Web. 27 May 2012.
[51] "Sony sees return to profit, aims to halve TV losses" (http:/ / www. reuters. com/ article/ 2012/ 05/ 10/
us-sony-results-idUSBRE8490A120120510). 10 May 2012. .
[52] "Sony: Too Much make-Believe." FT.com (2011): n/a. ABI/INFORM Global; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 May 2012.
[53] Fujimura, Naoko (12 December 2011). "Sony's Shopping Spree Is 'Wrong Direction' in Apple Battle: Tech" (http:/ / www. bloomberg. com/
news/ 2011-12-13/ stringer-s-shopping-spree-wrong-direction-for-sony-in-apple-battle-tech. html). Bloomberg. . Retrieved 18 December
2011.
[54] 10 Year Financials of sne Sony Corp Adr (http:/ / www. gurufocus. com/ financials. php?symbol=sne). Gurufocus.com. Retrieved on
2012-04-25.
[55] "Sony expected to slash 10,000 jobs" (http:/ / news. cnet. com/ 8301-1023_3-57411107-93/ sony-expected-to-slash-10000-jobs/
?tag=cnetRiver). . Retrieved 9 April 2012.
[56] "Sony, Sharp Losing $11 Billion Leaves Investors Let Down" (http:/ / www. bloomberg. com/ news/ 2012-04-10/
sony-widens-net-loss-estimate-to-520-billion-yen. html). 11 April 2012. .
[57] "Sony ups ad spend to Rs.450 cr" (http:/ / www. thehindu. com/ business/ companies/ article3497657. ece). 07 June 2012. .
[58] Sony Annual Report 2006 (http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ IR/ financial/ ar/ 2006/ qfhh7c00000akslc-att/ qfhh7c00000aksmr. pdf).
sony.net
[59] Breakdown of sales and distribution by geographical markets from company 10Ks
[60] McCurry, Justin (9 December 2008). "Sony to cut 8,000 jobs worldwide" (http:/ / www. guardian. co. uk/ business/ 2008/ dec/ 09/
sony-job-cuts). The Guardian (London). . Retrieved 23 May 2010.
[61] "Guide to Greener Electronics" (http:/ / www. greenpeace. org/ international/ en/ campaigns/ climate-change/ cool-it/
Guide-to-Greener-Electronics/ ). Greenpeace International. Greenpeace International. . Retrieved 16 November 2011.
[62] Samson, Ted (9 July 2007). "Sony hits bottom of Greenpeace eco rankings" (http:/ / www. infoworld. com/ d/ green-it/
sony-hits-bottom-greenpeace-eco-rankings-649). InfoWorld. . Retrieved 5 October 2010.
[63] History of Environmental Activities at Sony (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20080208124950/ http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/
Environment/ activities/ history/ index. html). Web.archive.org (8 February 2008). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[64] Sony Group Environmental Vision (http:/ / web. archive. org/ web/ 20071127044020/ http:/ / www. sony. net/ SonyInfo/ Environment/
activities/ vision/ index. html). Web.archive.org (27 November 2007). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[65] Sony develops World's Most Powerful Sugar-based Bio Battery Prototype (http:/ / www. techgadgets. in/ misc-gadgets/ 2007/ 24/
sony-develops-worlds-most-powerful-sugar-based-bio-battery-prototype/ ). Techgadgets.in (24 August 2007). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
[66] Knight, Danielle (22 September 2000). "Sony's PR War on Activists" (http:/ / motherjones. com/ environment/ 2000/ 09/
sonys-pr-war-activists). Mother Jones. . Retrieved 5 October 2010.

13

Sony

14

Further reading
PlayStation Division is Under Review (http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/2811/
playstation-division-is-under-review)
Made in Japan by Akio Morita and Sony, HarperCollins (1994)
Sony: The Private Life by John Nathan, Houghton Mifflin (1999)
Sony Radio, Sony Transistor Radio 35th Anniversary 19551990 information booklet (1990)
The Portable Radio in American Life by University of Arizona Professor Michael Brian Schiffer, PhD (The
University of Arizona Press, 1991).
The Japan Project: Made in Japan a documentary about Sony's early history in the U.S. by Terry Sanders.

External links

Official website (http://www.sony.net/)

Sony Australia (http://www.sony.com.au/)
Sony Canada (http://www.sony.ca/)
Sony Ireland (http://www.sony.ie/)
Sony New Zealand (http://www.sony.com.au/)

Sony United Kingdom (http://www.sony.co.uk/)

Sony USA (http://www.sony.com/)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Sony Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=502172577 Contributors: -Majestic-, 000, 10metreh, 12ed34, 16@r, 193.133.134.xxx, 194.237.150.xxx, 198.133.22.xxx, 1moooo,
213.253.39.xxx, 25 Cents FC, 2D, 4wajzkd02, @L!, A Man In Black, A gx7, A.A.M., AAvella, ABF, ABLURG, APDzie, AVRS, Aaron Schulz, Abchfhfhtit88774, Abdullais4u, Abomasnow,
Absolution101, Accurizer, Ace of Spades, Achmelvic, Achoo5000, Acps110, Acroterion, AdamWill, Adambro, Adashiel, Adavidb, Addshore, Adidinata, AdjustShift, Admeister200x,
Admit-the-truth, Adolphus79, Afccarl1994, Afewsdfawe, Ageo020, Ahkitj, Ahmed aaaa, Ahoerstemeier, Aicchalmers, Airplaneman, Ajaykemparaj, Ajmint, Akadruid, Akanemoto, AkroumKing,
Akujiki, Alansohn, Aldie, Ale jrb, AlexOvShaolin, Alexf, AlexiusHoratius, Alexsh, Alexthegreater, Alkhaida1, All in, Allenandrew25, Allisonok, Allstarecho, Altenmann, Aluvus, Alvin-cs,
Alxeedo, Alyosha Kravinoff 4085, Amalthea, Amish Gramish, AnOddName, Andrew Norman, Andrewa0713, Andrewmc123, AndrewvdBK, Andropod, Andy85719, Andypandy.UK, Angie Y.,
Angielaj, AnimatedZebra, Ankush12389, Anna Frodesiak, Anoldtreeok, AnonymousHaxker, Ansumang, Antandrus, Anwar saadat, Apostrophe, AppleJuggler, Arbitrarily0, Arctic-Editor,
Ardiedan1995, Areaseven, Aresmo, Argyleandy, Arnon Chaffin, Arsenaldc1988, Art LaPella, Arthena, Arx Fortis, Asdfaewfe, Asnidhin, Aspects, AssistantX, Astuishin, Atlant, Atraxani,
AuthenticM, Avicennasis, Avoided, Awesomeness95, Awsomeness11, AxG, Axem Titanium, Aymatth2, Az1568, AzaToth, Azimuth1, Azuran, B137, BD2412, Bacchus87, Badgernet, Bald
Zebra, Ballbuster4000, Ballin20914, Barefootguru, Barek, Bart133, Bass fishing physicist, Bboyskidz, Beast666thezev, Beetstra, Begoon, BenP94, Bender235, Benhocking, Benlisquare,
BennyIsMcAwesome, Berfasmur, Berry08, Beural Inc, Bfigura's puppy, Bhadani, BiT, Bigbadbrad1000, Bighamdaddy, Bilbo571, Bill e ray, Billcarr178, BinFlo, Binarypower, Binksternet,
Bissinger, Biztalkguy, Blanchardb, Blast101, BlueTigerS7, Bmusician, Bob199393, Bobby Soul 4980, Bobo192, Bongomatic, Bongwarrior, Boomshadow, Boothy443, Bored503, Bornintheguz,
Brand-jb, Brandonlovescastlecrashers, Brazil4Linux, Brazuca100, Brendan Moody, Brianga, BrightStarSky, BrockF5, BrokenSegue, Broncostar, Brookie, Broooce, Bryan Derksen, BryanB,
BryanG, Bucketsofg, Buckyboy314, Bumm13, Burgos02, Burto88, ButtsRodger, BxbbleGum, C.Fred, CGorman, CIS, Cabe6403, Cactus.man, Calabe1992, Call me Bubba, Calmer Waters,
Calor, Caltas, CalusReyma, CalvinRocks, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, CanisRufus, Canterbury Tail, Cantus, Capedude2005, Capricorn42, Captain-tucker, CardinalDan, Cargoking,
CaribDigita, CaseyPenk, Casper2k3, Caster23, CatherineMunro, Catmoongirl, CesarB, Chad Hennings, CharlesDexterWard, CharlotteWebb, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, Chasingsol,
Cheesesayhi, ChicagoTechDude, Chicen, Chiskidan1, Chocolateboy, Chokoboii, ChongDae, Chotapodha, Chris 73, Chris Hobeck, Chris the speller, Chris.Garbe, Chris2311, ChrisRuvolo,
Chrishmt0423, Chrisj15, Christina Silverman, Christopher Mahan, Christopher Parham, Chunky Rice, Ciao 90, Cla68, Clam0p, Clarince63, Clemmy, Click23, Clipmode, Closedmouth,
Cmdrjameson, Cobykins, Coemgenus, Coffee, Coleslaw1247, Collins1990, Comicfire, Commander Shepard, CommandoSolo, CommonsDelinker, Connerooney, Control-alt-delete, Conversion
script, Corby, Cormier6083, Correctus2kX, Courcelles, Cowawrrior, Cpl Syx, Cptimes, Craigy144, CrnaGora, Crowstar, Cryptonymius, Cureden, CutieNakky, Cyrius, D 2 da a, DAJF, DBdark,
DDRFRK, DDima, DIEXEL, DMCer, DMG413, DVD R W, DVokes, Dako, Dallas12221, DaltinWentsworth, Damian Yerrick, Dan100, Dan6hell66, Dancter, DanielCD, Danielson989, Danno
uk, Dannyc77, Dannycas, Dantheman531, Dark Beast 438, Dark Lord of the Sith, Dark2200, Darksteal, Dave Saunders, DaveJB, Davhorn, David Biddulph, David Haslam, David.Monniaux,
DavidWBrooks, Davodd, Daxdigital, Dbtfz, Dcandeto, Dck7777, Dcwieka, De728631, DeadEyeArrow, Deanharrison2304, Deiaemeth, Dekisugi, Delirious78, Delldot, Delta683, Denisarona,
Dennis Brown, DerHexer, Derolic, Devan711, Devin ki, Devletbek, Dfmock, Dfrg.msc, Dgies, Diannaa, Digijoe, Digresser, Dillard421, Dina, Discopete117, Discospinster, Dispenser, Diyar se,
Dj siniestro, Djg2006, Dkgoodman, Do it, DocWatson42, DocendoDiscimus, Dolafootlong, Dominic7848, DoubleBlue, Doubledose 2, Doulos Christos, Downhometown, Dpwkbw, Dqd, Dr.
Blofeld, Dr.frog, DrDevin, DraQue Star, Dragon10, DragonBlazer57, Drakron, Dreadstar, Dreamword, Drewand226, Drewdy, Drmies, Druff, Dtcdthingy, Dtobias, DtownG, Duckrape, Duffman,
Dynamism, E2eamon, E71, EG4K, ESkog, Eagleamn, Earlpwns, EarthPerson, Earthandrami, Ecgberht, Ed Halter, Ed Poor, Ed g2s, EdBever, Edward, EdwinCasadoBaez, Edwy, Eeekster,
Eequor, Ehsan baghaki, Eik Corell, El Cid, El cid the hero, Electricmoose, Elkman, Eloc Jcg, Elockid, Elthon73, Elven6, Emperorbma, Empoor, Enchantian2, Endofskull, Enviroboy, Epbr123,
Erebus Morgaine, ErrantX, Escape Orbit, EssentialParadox, Estel, Estoy Aqu, Eszett, Etheraldemonmagicdude, EvaGears, Evercat, Everyking, Evice, Ewc21, Ex-Nintendo Employee, Exert,
ExplicitImplicity, Eyeball226, F, FF2010, FadaIIeh, Falcon8765, Fan-1967, Favonian, Febo Apolo, Fedallah, Feduciary, Feinoha, Fernvale, Ffahm, Ffgamera, Ffxaddict899, Fg2,
Fieldday-sunday, FilipSebo4210, Fire walker 99, Firsfron, FisherQueen, Fiuyfe, Flockmeal, Floozybackloves, Florentino floro, Flowerpotman, Flypro, Fnfd, Fnorp, Fortenium, Fourdee, Foxj,
FrF, Fragglet, Francs2000, Frankenpuppy, Fratrep, Freakofnurture, Frecklefoot, FreplySpang, Frigotoni, Fudoreaper, FuelWagon, Funky Monkey 2000, Furgurgle, FuriousFreddy, Future Perfect
at Sunrise, Fuzheado, Fvw, Fyyer, F, G Clark, G01fp1us, G27, GB fan, Gaius Cornelius, Gamer112, Gamersedge, Gamesade369, Ganryuu, Gareth Griffith-Jones, Gavinryan1998, Gdo01,
GeekNJ, Geko Sniper, Geni, Gentgeen, Geo0910, Geopgeop, Georgia guy, Gfoley4, Ginga123, Ginger-les-tom, Giskard, Glacialfox, Glane23, GlassFET, Glatisant, Goalloverhere, Goatasaur,
Gobonobo, GodFather1921, Gofish33, Gogo Dodo, Gold Stur, GoldDragon, Golden Dunner, Golden33333, Gorba, GorillaWarfare, Gorillaz711, Gprince007, Graaf, Graham87, GrayFullbuster,
Grayshi, Greenday123, Greenomeno2, Greenshed, Griffinofwales, Groink, GroundZero, Gsarwa, Gtaasim360, Gudeldar, Guido del Confuso, Gurch, Gurubrahma, Gutza, Guyito11, Gwernol,
Gzkn, H1523702, HAL Capone, Haakon, Hadal, HalJor, HalfShadow, Halo3forever, Halofan.3, Halokicksbutt, Hardxcorey, Harej, Harofryyth, Harryzilber, Headhoncho, Heavyflorida, Hellfire2,
Hellohellohello7, Hene, Hengist Pod, Herd of Swine, Hi, Jeff. Hi!, Hike395, Hoary, Hobartimus, Hollen-Thistlemane, Hooperbloob, Hosseinirani, Hour, Htanna, Hu, Hu12, Hurricane Angel Saki,
Hutcher, Hvishnu999, Hwang for11, IAMTrust, IAmATrayekf, ILombardini, IRP, IRWeta, Iamawsomeyousuck, Iamhuman29, Ian Moody, Ida Shaw, Ignorance is strength, Ilyushka88,
Imdaking, Immunize, Impact33, Indoasian, Infrogmation, Inkypaws, Instaurare, Insurancewiz, Integrity168, Interested2, Interframe, Inuboy1000, Invincible Ninja, Iridescent, IrishMist, Irishguy,
Irishguy9221, Irregulargalaxies, Irunwithscissors1234, Isola81, Issanotomo, Italianboy10, Italiangamer, Ixfd64, IzakT, Izno, IznoRepeat, J-stan, J. Nguyen, J.P.Lon, J.delanoy, JCDenton2052,
JFarm, JForget, JTBX, JWPearce, Ja 62, Jac16888, Jack Phoenix, Jack2193478, Jackfork, Jacksonian3623, Jacoplane, JagX, Jagged 85, JaimeyWB, Jakeopm, Jamcib, James Chicken Fingers,
Jamesooders, JamieSI, Japandamonium, Jared, Jargon777, Jason One, JasonXV, Jasrocks, Javert, Jay, Jaydec, Jazz 32, Jburati, Jebise79, Jecates, Jeff G., Jenglass, Jennavecia, Jennica, Jerem43,
Jerryseinfeld, Jesse V., Jhay mm2008, Jibjibjib, Jim1138, JimBeam251, Jiminicriquet, Jimj wpg, Jimktrains, Jimqode, Jindivid, Jindle357, Jinkinh, Jinnai, Jmcc150, Jmundo, Jobin RV, Joe
cooney23, Joe.0891, Joe99soap, Joejoejack, Joevicentini, Joeygum, Johan Burati, John, John Doe42, John Fader, John of Reading, John.n-irl, John254, JohnnyB256, Jolly Janner, Jomasecu, Jon
Ascton, Jonabbey, Jons63, Jorgen veisdal, Joseph Solis in Australia, Josh.Shaffer.94, Jossi, Joyous!, Jpatokal, Jrburdine, Jrp, Jschnur, Jtalledo, Jugbug, Jusdafax, JustinHall, Jwestbrook, Jzhang,
Jsk Couriano, K1372, K975, KFV101, KHM03, KSweeley, KUsam, Kaini, Katalaveno, Katieh5584, Kc2545, Keemyb, Keiko11, Kelvinc, Kemyou, Kendricbeachey, Kesla, Kfitzsimmons71,
Khfan93, KiViki, Kickme527, Killiondude, Kilo-Lima, Kinaro, King Rekkuza, King Scar, King Shadeed, Kingharris, Kintetsubuffalo, Kitch, Kiteinthewind, Kjkolb, Kkm010, Klausschulze,
Kllrcrab, Kmccoy, Kmjnhh123, Knowledgebycoop, Kocio, Koris, Kornfan71, Kribbeh, Kristen Eriksen, Krtek2125, Kseferovic, Kurieeto, KurtRaschke, Kuru, Kurykh, Kushmanz, Kyland, Kyle
Barbour, Kyng, Kyrios320, L Kensington, L33th4x0rguy, LAX, LG4761, LOL, La Pianista, Lalo22, Lammaboy17, Lantrix, LarryGilbert, Lateg, Laurinavicius, Lawnboy1999, Lcawte, Lee M,
LegionOfAnon, Lenilucho, Leodbs, Leonard^Bloom, Leszek Jaczuk, Lethu360, Liftarn, Limetolime, Link900, LittleOldMe, Llort, Lolomiasan, LonelyMarble, Looie496, Lord Jarrod,
Lowflyingowl, Luigiacruz, Luna Santin, Lundse, Luuva, Lyncs, Lyricmac, M3lm4tt, MASTERuser, MAXXX-309, MER-C, MG42COD, MLA95, Maceis, Macersl, Mad Dawg, Madboybeast99,
Madhero88, Magasin, Mailer diablo, Malcolm, Malcolm Farmer, Malejotm, Malepheasant, Mandarax, Mandel, Mangojuice, Manlyman35, Marc Lacoste, Marcika, MarcoTolo, Mardus, Marek69,
Marina T., Marina330, Mark83, MarkBuckles, MarkSpencerTLS, Markboy123, Markpeak, Martarius, Master Freeman, Master Jay, Mastercaster, Masterlink18, Materialscientist, Matt Britt, Matt
and Chris 4, Mav, Maxis ftw, Maxwell powers, Mazeofmonochrome, Mazokn, Mb1000, Mbslrm, McSly, Mcdogit, Mcmillanm, Md678685, Meeples, Mega-Japan, Mekong Bluesman, Melchoir,
Melodia, Menchi, Mentifisto, Merovingian, Mic, Michaelas10, Michaelmas1957, Middleman 77, Midnight3751, Mifter, MikeLynch, MikeStuff, Mikepurvis, Mikko Paananen, Mikus, Milad
Mosapoor, Milladakilla, Millermk, Mimithebrain, Minesweeper, Mini-Geek, Minimac, Minimac's Clone, Miquonranger03, Miremare, Mirmo!, Misternuvistor, Misterrick, Misterx2000,
Mjr162006, Mkeranat, Mmxx, Mnemeson, Mnuez, Modulatum, Mokaaaaa, MolSno, Monkfishbandana, Moonriddengirl, Moosesy, Moreinfopleasenow, Morgan Leigh, Movietech, Mr Bucket,
Mr Stephen, Mr. Lefty, MrCharles94, MrChupon, MrFish, Mrguyguy226, Mrivera1, Mrjiggaman, Mrkelly1234, Mrmahon34, Mshecket, Mtky, Multiple Man 472, Musakarakelle, Mushroom,
Musicdr, MuzikJunky, Mwzzhang, Myke2020, Myknowitall127, Myscrnnm, NBAMan, NTox, Naive cynic, Nakagawa0, Namazu-tron, Nanshu, Napoleon4444, Nard the Bard, Natalie Erin,
Naveregnide, NawlinWiki, Nazi 2007, Ndenison, Nealmcb, Neandre336, Neel Radhakrishnan, Neelix, Nehrams2020, NeilN, Nelsonious, NeoJustin, Netwooo79, Neurolysis, New Age Retro
Hippie, NewEnglandYankee, Ngs-helmsc, Nibi, Nick, Nick C, Nickmattress, Nicnacx, Nicolassantos87, Niemti, Nihonjoe, Nikai, Ninetyone, Nintendofan605, Nintendog master 54, Nirojan45,
Nishkid64, Nisselua, Niteowlneils, Nixdorf, No Guru, No-Bullet, NoUser123321123321, Noctibus, Notneb82, Novioboy, NovusTabula, Nquinnathome1, Nschubach, NuclearWarfare,
Nummer29, Nyarpy, Nyttend, Nz-Halifax, O Fenian, OOODDD, OSX, Oatmeal batman, Oblivion94, Octave8, Oda Mari, Odie5533, OhanaUnited, Ohconfucius, Ohnoitsjamie, OllieNS,
Olorin28, Omgomgdylan, Omicronpersei8, OneiroPhobia, Onetwo1, Onopearls, Oo64eva, Opelio, Openmeup, Oracle989, Orange Suede Sofa, Orderinchaos, Outburn, Ovidius89, OwenX,
Ozuma, PCHS-NJROTC, PS3 gay, PS3FANBOYLOLF, Pabix, Pablobenja, Palosirkka, Panyd, Paqart, Para, Parthrana, Pascal.Tesson, Patriarch, Patricio00, Patrickcm, Patstuart, Paul Richter,
Pb30, Pearle, Pedroshin, Pegausus, Pelago, Pengkeu, Pengyanan, PerkyG2, Petersam, Petiatil, Peyman4u, Pgk, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Phil websurfer@yahoo.com, Philip Trueman,
Photoguy439, Phyllis1753, Pi, Piano non troppo, Pie4all88, Pierpontpaul2351, Piledhigheranddeeper, Pillow2011, Pilotguy, Pinethicket, Piotras, Piperclaireleonard, Pixelperfect777,
Pizzapotamus, PlanetCoder, Plaztikstarz, Pleasantville, Ploca12, Po1216, Poculum, Poochy, Poopmonkey12, Poor Yorick, Possum, Postdlf, PotentialDanger, Ppntori, Pranavvij, Prari, Prasanaik,
Praveen bathini, Presidentman, PrestonH, PrimeCupEevee, Prlu13, Professional Gamer, Prolog, Prometheus uss, Ps3h8er, Psbsub, Pseudomonas, Puyol9, Pyxn, Qsdwqswwq, Quadra630,
Qualstias, Quantumobserver, Quasipalm, Qwyrxian, Qxz86, RA0808, RBBrittain, RJaguar3, Rachelch98, Radical01, Radon210, Ragib, Ragnar321, RainbowOfLight, Ram bindra, RandomP,
Ranggaeuy224, Rangoon11, RapidAssistant, RazorICE, Razpizza, Rcawsey, Rcinda1, Rdc525, Rdodolak, ReCkLeSs X, Reach Out to the Truth, Reaper X, Redjess1206, Regibox, Regushee,
Reign of Toads, Reliant, Relow, Remurmur, Repetition, Retired username, Rettetast, RevTenderBranson, Revelation2168, RexImperium, RexNL, Riana, Rich Farmbrough, Richard300187,
Richardsmellslikefun, Richw33, Rick Browser, RickK, Rickterp, RickyGillyJack, Ridwan97, Rimmington01, Rjwilmsi, Rkunreal, Rlawldn94, Rlest, Rlevse, Rob1974, RobLa, Robchurch, Robert
yu@sony.ca, RobertG, Robomaeyhem, Robtanner, Rodhullandemu, Roflcopters, Rogers83, Rokaszil, Romyion, Ron, Ronhjones, Ronz, RoseTech, Ross Uber, Rottyr, Rrburke, Runa27,
Runewiki777, RussBlau, Ryukichiro, Ryulong, S-GFX, S73W1E, SDC, SF007, SGBailey, SJP, SUPERDUPER DOUCHE, Sack 114, Sacktheish, Salty!, Sam Li, SamJohnston, Sambam350,
Sampi, Samsara, Samuel Sol, Samuelsen, SanGatiche, Sander Sde, Sango123, Sannse, Savant13, Savidan, Sayden, Sb617, ScarletSpiderDave, Scepia, Schmiddy, Scootey, Scope creep,
Scorpions4ever, ScottSteiner, Seann, Seaphoto, Sega381, Seibzehn, Seidenstud, Sekiyu, Semendrinker, SergeantLuke, Shaboobly757, Shaddack, Shadow blazer187, Shadow one1, Shadow-13,
Shadypalm88, Shanes, Shawn in Montreal, Shawnc, Shay Guy, Shell Kinney, Shigoroku, ShivamP44, Shlomke, Shoaler, Shoessss, Shrekkie45, Shuipzv3, Sig0, Silberfuchs, Silv the Something,
SirLamer, Sjones23, SkiBumMSP, Skizzik, Skorp, Slakr, Slavon37, Sloman, Slomo23232315, Smalljim, Smash, Smashbro47, Smashfdvdfbv, Smelly poo head, Smilemean, Smmgeek, Snowolf,
Snowy150, SoCalSuperEagle, SoSaysChappy, Soccer After Death, Sohailstyle, Some Wiki Editor, Some jerk on the Internet, Sonybloze, Sonyps2, SonysucksHALO99, SoraTKM, Soraownz,
SorcererTech, Soupy sautoy, South Bay, Sp33dyphil, SpaceFlight89, SpaceKnight, Sparrowman980, Spartan-James, Spation, Spellcast, Squinnman, Srujanjoshi, Ssj4leon, Ssolbergj, Sssbbb3,
Stanleyivan, Starsky521, Startstop123, Staskuz, Staxjp, Stazzie, Steel, Stephen Bain, Stephen Gilbert, Stephenb, Stephon719, Steve03Mills, SteveSims, Stevek93, StevenT1, Stifle, Stimpy9337,
Street Mix Live Entertainment, Strickland89, Stroppolo, Stwalkerster, Stybn, Sugreev2001, Sully1311, Sumdee, Sumit sony145, Sumsum2010, SuperHamster, SuperModer, SuperNick,
SuperbSwine, Superchilltonic, Superway25, Surveyor13, SusanLesch, Sushiflinger, SusikMkr, Svetovid, Svgalbertian, SweetNeo85, SynergyBlades, T-rex, T3chl0v3r, TBPro, TEH ARBITUR,

15

Article Sources and Contributors

THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, TJ Spyke, TJDay, TKrB, TTE, TaerkastUA, Tapir Terrific, Tariqabjotu, Tascha96, TastyCakes, Tawker, Tbhotch, Techman224, Ted Wilkes, TehLulzMastur,
Tehkraziboi, Terence, Terrence235, Tetrasoft, Tgeairn, Th1rt3en, Thadius856AWB, Thatguyflint, The Anome, The Prince of Darkness, The Stick Man, The Thing, The Thing That Should Not
Be, The Transhumanist, The Ultimate Koopa, The rename123, The wub, TheDoober, TheFeds, TheOne12345, TheParanoidOne, TheRanger, TheScienceShow, Theas, Theaveng, Theda,
Themfromspace, Theonlynub101, Thingg, Thnom, Thnr, Tholme, Thorpe, Thumperward, Thunderbolt213, Thunderbrand, Tide rolls, TigerK 69, Tills, Tim!, Timcarter53, Timotab, Timwi,
Tiptoety, Titoxd, Tjemsdjxor12, Tlloyd39, Tobz1000, Tocharianne, Tokyoship, Tom Edwards, Tom harrison, TomCat4680, Tommy2010, Tommyc93, Tonic785, Tonius, Tooki, Toshio
Yamaguchi, Toxicity, Trancewarrior, Tregoweth, Trey Stone, TreyGeek, Trident13, Trisreed, Troll423, Trueshow111, Trusilver, Truthflux, Turgay1985, TutterMouse, Twiin, Twistlethrop,
UOSSReiska, Ubux123, Ucanlookitup, Ukexpat, Ultraviolet scissor flame, Uma1uma, Uncle Dick, UncleDouggie, Underoi, Unreal7, UnrivaledShogun, Urbanrenewal, UrboyJDH, Us441,
Useight, Ustas, Utcursch, UtherSRG, VI, Vaganyik, Valoem, Vampirehunter1, Vancouverguy, Vanka5, Vary, Veejayyc, VegitaU, Veledan, Velella, VernoWhitney, Versageek, Vespristiano,
Viakenny, Videogamessuck, Vindicator of they, Violettsureme, ViolinGirl, Vipinhari, Virensareen, Viridian, Visik, Viskonsas, Volt M, Voltlight, Vox3000, Vrenator, Vsmith, WATERSLIDE,
WHRupp, WTGDMan1986, Wakashizuma, Wattsie1993, Wavelength, Waycool27, Wayne Slam, Wcability109, Wehe, Wendy 2012, Wenli, Wernher, Wesilation98, Wester, WhisperToMe,
White Lightning, Whkoh, Who What Where Nguyen Why, Why Not A Duck, WhySoSrsBrosif, Whywhenwhohow, Wiki alf, WikiCats, WikiRex02, WikiWikiWee4th, WikiXan,
WikipedianMarlith, Wikipediarules2221, Wikipelli, Wikiwakiwoo, Willking1979, Winchelsea, Windward1, Winhunter, Wintonian, Wisco, Wisely677946, Wknight94, Wolfhoundraider,
Woohookitty, Wootonius, Word Logix, Worm9100, Wossi, Wtmitchell, Wuhwuzdat, WulfTheSaxon, Wykebjs, X-Ray 3847, X201, Xboxbull, Xboxman1510, Xdcdx, Xiaochen.low, Xizer,
Xoallixox1005, Xpm2jon, Xtreme racer, Yamaguchi , Yandman, Yano, Yeahsoo, Yelyos, Yiwen017, Yonskii, Yoyoyoabc, Z Microsystems, Zac and jordan, Zackstab123, ZakuSage,
Zdeadbody, Zerocool1234, Zeta204, Zidonuke, Ziggurat, Zilog Jones, ZippyKid, Zmanq, Zmiller923, Zoe, Zoicon5, Zoolook, Ztobor, Zummis, Zvn, Zzuuzz, hr, , 2657 ,
anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Sony logo.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sony_logo.svg License: Trademarked Contributors: ANGELUS, Anonymous Dissident, Damian Yerrick, Dantadd, F
l a n k e r, Fred J, Hautala, J o, Mahahahaneapneap, Oxguy3, Tiptoety, Yarl, 7 anonymous edits
File:Decrease2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Decrease2.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Sarang
File:Increase2.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Increase2.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Sarang
File:Sonyheadquarters.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sonyheadquarters.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Contributors: Shuichi Aizawa from
Tokyo, Japan
File:CD-ROM.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CD-ROM.png License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: User Black and White on en.wikipedia
File:Walkman MZ-R50.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Walkman_MZ-R50.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 Contributors:
Picopon
File:Sony VAIO VGN-FW590.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sony_VAIO_VGN-FW590.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
Alvin Pingol
File:SONY Cyber-shot DSC W530.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SONY_Cyber-shot_DSC_W530.JPG License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
Contributors: User:JDP90
File:Sonybraviav5500widget.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sonybraviav5500widget.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Contributors: David
Laita
File:Sony Ericsson W200i.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sony_Ericsson_W200i.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
User:Mk2010
File:PS2-slim-console.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PS2-slim-console.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-Amos
File:Sonypicturesentertainmentoffices.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sonypicturesentertainmentoffices.jpg License: GNU Free Documentation License
Contributors: Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia
File:Usherraymond (300dpi).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Usherraymond_(300dpi).jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors:
Seher Sikandar for rehes creative
File:Kazuo Hirai with Playstation Vita.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Kazuo_Hirai_with_Playstation_Vita.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0 Contributors: User:Tokyoship

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

16