by Leo Tully and Daniel Walters

History

Sony began in 1946 as the Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation), or Totsuko with roughly 190,000 yen in startup capital for the research and development of telecommunications and measurement equipment.The company produced several pieces of communications equipment, such as its “power megaphone,” and the G-Type, Japan’s first magnetic tape recorder.

 In 1955, the decision was made to use the SONY logo on Totsuko products. The company then expanded on a global scale, with Sony of America launching in 1960 and Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Ltd. in 1961. The company continued expanding, not only in terms of location, but in terms of product as well. Today, the pride of Sony is built around a combination of consumer electronic, video games, television, film and music. [1]

Key Executives

Financials

Sony’s most recent annual fiscal report, which ended in March of 2016, is roughly on par with recently posted fiscal years (2014 and 2015) with a slight decrease in sales revenue, but also an equally decreased value in expenses. That being said, the most recent quarterly earnings report to be released shows an overall decrease in sales and operating revenue. The roughly 10% drop in sales and operating revenue translates into a 48% decrease in operating income, and a more than 85% decrease in the operating income attributable to stock holders. [10]

 Sony’s Future

Gaming

Playstation VR continues to be a major focus for Sony on the gaming front, with an announced roster of more than 70 games to be available to the system between its October release and the end of 2017. [12]

Unrelated to the company’s foray into the realm of virtual reality is their recent launch of the Playstation 4 Pro, an upgraded version of the already popular Playstation 4 Console. The goals of the console are heavily ingrained in its ability to play games and and video at 4K resolution. [13] Most tech review sites have the prime demographic to purchase the console be a combination of late adopters who are only just now getting involved in the Playstation 4 atmosphere, such as past Playstation 3 owners who were slow to upgrade, those absolute Playstation enthusiasts who would buy it just

on the prestigious Playstation brand alone, and finally those less gaming inclined video enthusiasts who fancy a Netflix or other video service player for the 4K HDR television they already own. [14] Potential setbacks that many have criticized the console for mostly fall on the lack of a 4K Blu-Ray player, a particularly confusing feature to be missing considering Sony’s history in popularizing the format as well as the fact that competing Microsoft’s Xbox One S does come with a 4K Blu-Ray player and costs $100 less than this new Playstation. [15]

Film

Sony Pictures has an impressive lineup coming into 2017. Passengers is set to release in the last weeks of 2016 and will be the Sony’s frontrunner going into theaters for the new year. Established franchises are, as expected, to be a staple for 2017, with new installments in the Underworld, Resident Evil and Smurfs franchises, as well as Spiderman: Homecoming. As far as less serialized titles are concerned, T2: Transpotting, Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, and the Dwayne Johnson lead Jumanji (2017) are all highly anticipated films for the new year. [16]

Tech

Sony’s Xperia smartphone line will be welcoming a new addition in April 2017 with the release of the Z7. The phone is confirmed to be priced at $600 USD and will be running on Google’s newest edition of it’s Android software, Nougat/Android 7.0. Rumors suggest that the phone will lead the smartphone dual camera revolution, will have expandable memory and will feature rapid, wireless charging. [17]

Music

2017 marks a new era for Sony Music Entertainment. 54 year old Rob Stringer is a Sony Music executive and has been for quite some time. In October it was announced that Stringer would be heading the world’s second largest record company come early to mid 2017. Stringer is known both as a long time executive with the company and as the younger brother of Sir Howard Stringer, the former chairmen and president of Sony Broadband and former CEO of not only Sony Broadband, but also Sony Electronics Inc. and Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. The shift in power has been a long time coming, as Stringer is set to replace the 77 year old Doug Morris. [18]

Sources

[1] Corporate History. Sony. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[2] Sony Homepage. Sony. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[3] Leaks expose employees’ salaries, personal data. ITPJ. Retrieved: November 25 2016

[4] Wakabayashi, Daisuke (February 2 2012). New Sony Chief Executive Reveals Fast-Forward Plans. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved: November 27 2016.

[5] Pfanner, Eric and Mochizuki Takashi (November 17 2014). Sony’s Blunt Finance Chief Takes Spotlight. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved: November 27 2016.

[6] ‘Andrew House and Mark Cerny in Conversation’ Keynote Confirmed in Development. PC Enthusiast. Retrieved: November 27 2016.

[7] Sony Senior Management Team. Sony Pictures. Retrieved: November 27 2016.

[8] Executive Biographies. Sony. Retrieved: November 27 2016

[9] The Weird, Original Logos of Apple, Amazon and Other Tech Giants. Tech Insider. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[10] Q2 FY2016 Consolidated Financial Results. Sony. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[11] PlayStation VR: A Hardcore Console Gamer’s Perspective. Upload. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[12] Dunning, Jason (October 5 2016). Here’s Every Playstation VR Launch Game Coming in 2016 & Early 2017. Playstation Lifestyle. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[13] Pino, Nick (November 23 2016). Sony’s souped-up PS4 Pro is amazing for 4K TV owners. Tech Radar. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[14] Molina, Brett (November 25 2016). Review: PlayStation 4 Pro is all about 4K TV. USA Today. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[15] Archer, John (October 27 2016). Sorry PS4 Pro, But The Xbox One S 4K Blu-ray Drive Just Got A Lot Better. Forbes. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[16] Sony Future Releases. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: November 25 2016.

[17] Sony Xperia Z7 Preview. Xperia Z7. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[18] Karp, Hannah (October 18 2016). New CEO Set for Sony Music Entertainment. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[19] Sony Pictures Teases The Dark Tower, MIB 23, Passengers, and More at CinemaCon. ComingSoon. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[20] Sony Xperia Z7 Release Date Rumors Q1 2017 – Z7, Z7 Mini, and Z7 Premium. Smartphone 2017. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[21] Sony Music. Sony Music. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[22] Sony Music Executives – Rob Stringer. Sony Music. Retrieved: November 26 2016.

[23] Playstation 4 Pro. Playstation. Retrieved: November 20 2016.

[24] T2 Trainspotting Official Trailer. Youtube. Retrieved: November 28 2016.