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Founding
Sony was established on May 7th 1946 by Masaru Ibuka as a radio repair shop. The next year Akio Morita joined him, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo telecommunications Engineering Corporation). -
First tape recorder
In 1950, the company created Japan’s first tape recorder, called the Type-G. Just a year later in 1951 the company released the first consumer-use tape recorder, named Type-H. (Month/Day Unknown) -
Renamed to Sony
The company changed its name to Sony (day is unknown) -
Sony Corp. of America founded
In 1960, Akio Morita founded Sony Corporation of America. (Month/Day Unknown) -
Betamax released
In 1975, the company launched the Betamax videocassete recording format. It became part of the videotape format war of the early ‘80s, between Sony’s Betamax system and the VHS format developed by JVC. (Month/Day Unknown) -
Walkman brand is launched
In 1979, Sony began a life insurance company as one of its peripheral businesses. In the same year, Sony’s Walkman brand was introduced: the world’s first portable music player using the compact cassette format. (Month/Day Unknown) -
Compact Disk is launched
In 1983, Sony introduced the world to the Compact Disc (CD). At the same time, it launched the 3.5-inch floppy disks to replace the then on-going 5.25” floppy disks. Sony enjoyed a great success with this, and the format became dominant until floppy disks were replaced by current media formats. -
Discman Series Launched
In 1984, Sony launched the Discman series, which was an expansion of the Walkman brand to portable CD products. (Month/Day Unknown -
Handycam and Video8
In 1985, Sony launched its Handycam products and the Video8 format. (Month/Day Unknown) -
4mm DAT (Digital Audio Tape)
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CBS Records is purchased
In 1988, Ohga purchased CBS Records. (Day is unknown) -
Columbia Pictures is purchased
In 1989, Ohga purchased Columbia Pictures. In the same year Norio Ohga was made CEO of the company. He encouraged the development of the Compact Disc (CD) in the ‘70s and ‘80s, as well as the PlayStation in the early ‘90s. (Day is Unknown) -
Sony Pictures and Sony Music is Established
In 1991, after a series of acquisitions and friendly take-overs, Sony Pictures Entertainment was founded on August 7th. As of 2011, the company is ranked 3rd among movie studios, with a 12.5% box office market share. In the same year, Sony also established its music branch, called Sony Music Entertainment. (Month and Day are Unknown) -
Sony Computer Entertainment is Established
On November 16th, 1993, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) was established in Tokyo, Japan. It is responsible for the line of PlayStation consoles, which grew out of a failed partnership with Nintendo. -
First Playstation launched
In 1994, Sony Computer Entertainment launched the first PlayStation.
