It was at Morita’s urging that the Sony Walkman portable tape recorder was designed and marketed (company insiders doubted the device would be popular). In addition, Morita helped Sony thrive by recognizing the potential of new products.

The corporation also used American-style advertising. Morita pioneered the concept of branding by making sure that Sony’s name was prominently displayed on all products, and refused to sell products to other companies for packaging under their brands. Thanks to Ibuki’s innovative consumer products and Morita’s business thinking, Sony became a major competitor in the electronics industry. Once Sony’s products began to sell well in the international market, he opened factories in the United States and Europe, in addition to factories in Japan. In addition, in 1963 Morita moved with his family to the United States for a year to better understand American business practices and American thinking.

(Sony was derived from the Latin sonus, “sound.”) In 1961, under Morita’s leadership, Sony became the first Japanese company to sell its stock on the New York Stock Exchange. Indeed, the name Sony was chosen after the founders searched dictionaries trying to find a name that could be pronounced in any language. Morita had a corporate vision that was global in its scope. Morita and Ibuka’s successes also included early consumer versions of the tape recorder (1950 Ibuka had developed a tape recorder the year before), the transistor radio (1955), and the “pocket” transistor radio (1957). Morita’s main tasks were financial and commercial matters he was responsible for marketing Sony products worldwide. In 1946 they founded the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation (Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō), which was renamed Sony Corporation in 1958. Together they worked on thermal guidance systems and night vision devices.Īfter the war, Morita worked with Ibuka to establish a communications laboratory in Tokyo. During World War II, he was assigned to the Armory in Yokosuka, where he met Ibuka Masaru, an industry representative on the War Research Committee. Instead, he developed an early interest in technology, eventually enrolling at Osaka Imperial University and receiving a degree in physics in 1944. Morita came from a family with a long tradition of brewing and should have continued the family business.

Akio Morita was a Japanese businessman who was co-founder, CEO (from 1971) and chairman (from 1976 to 1994) of Sony Corporation, a world-renowned consumer electronics manufacturer.

Made in japan by akio morita