AKIO MORITA and SONY

LOGO

AKIO MORITA

SONY

Mary Rose M. Virtucio

AKIO MORITA

BORN: January 26, 1921, Nagoya, Japan1

DIED: October 3, 1999, Tokyo, Japan2

EDUCATION:

High School Number Eight

(Physics) Osaka Imperial University

Faculty of Tokyo Institute of Technology

3

OCCUPATION: Co-Founder of Sony4

MILITARY : Navy Lieutenant (1944-45)5

Awards

Text

1982 1987 1991 1993

Family Background

The Morita family has been brewing sake, miso and soy sauce for nearly 400

years in the city of Tokoname, near Nagoya.

Akio was groomed to become the heir to the family business. As a

student, Akio often sat in on company meetings with his father and he would help with the

family business even on school holidays.

Copyright 2011

Beginning of SONY

May 7, 1946, Masaru Ibuka (age38, Senior Managing Director ) and Akio Morita (age25, then Managing Director)founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering

Corporation)

"We will try to create conditions where persons could come together in a spirit of teamwork, and exercise to their heart's

desire and their technological capacity."

Beginning of SONY

Totsuko employees on a recreational trip

(Morita and Ibuka in the front row,

first and second from right, respectively).

Teamwork

“First Product, First Memorable Failure”

Automatic Rice Cooker

Electrically Heated Cushion

Back in 1946, as Japan was moving to the “new yen” currency, Japan was

apparently going through a rather tough economic time. So in order to keep their

employees happy and employed, they had to find a way to earn the new currency.

“It had to be

something

different,

something that

nobody else

was making.”

AKIO MORITA

Tape Recorder

H-type – (1951)13kg less

G-type(1949), A-type(1950)

First Prototype Tape Recorder

for educational program

for home use

for institutional use

P-Type Tape Recorder

"The wider the

market, the better. If

so, selling only in

Japan can be just as

risky. It would be

safer to depend on

the entire world. We

are not ready yet, but

we must expand our

market worldwide,“ Morita thought.

AKIO MORITA

Trip to the United States

Akio Morita is successful in signing a contract with Western Electric.

In 1954, the company won a license to make transistors, a new technology that had been invented in America but had not yet been applied to radios which

were still bulky valve-driven appliances.

„Sony‟ or „Sonus‟ = sound or sonic

„Sonny Boy‟ = young person with free

and pioneering spirit

SONY

Transistor Radio

TR-52 transistor radio

shaped like the

UN building in New

York

TR-55 transistor radio

Japan's first transistor radio

TR-63 transistor radio

pocket transistor

radio

Discussions centering on radio design.

TR-610 the world's smallest AM radio was sold with speakers at the time.

Transistor Radio

Compact Cassettes Worldwide

H-AIR "MDR-3“

Headphone

Prototype with

large headphones

By the end of the 1970’s

(stereo cassette tape )

Realization of a long-held dream.

Television

Television

1

World's first direct-view

portable TV "TV8-301"

2

World's smallest & lightest

micro-TV (TV5-303)

3

First Trinitron color

TV (KV-1310)

SONY

March 2009, Sony employed more than 171,000 people. The

company's annual revenue in 2009 was almost $8 billion, with

almost $1.5 billion in profit.

How can you model the success of Akio Morita?

Trust your gut.

Find a good

company name

& product

name.

Look after

your people.

Akio Morita

"Don't be afraid to

make a mistake.

But make sure you

don't make the

same mistake

twice."

LOGO

Mary Rose M. VirtucioCopyright 2010