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Sony (In
katakana: ソニー ; In
Chinese: 新力 this writing has the meaning of new power) is a
consumer electronics
corporation based in
Tokyo,
Japan. It was founded on
May 7,
1946 as the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering with about 20
employees. Their first consumer product, in the late
1940s, was a rice boiler. As it grew into a major international
corporation, Sony acquired other companies with longer histories,
including
Columbia Records (the oldest continuously produced brand name in
recorded sound, dating back to
1888).
The name was coined by founder
Akio Morita to convey "sound" and "sonny" for youth and energy.
In
1988, Sony acquired CBS (Columbia) Records Group from
CBS. It was renamed "Sony Music Entertainment".
In
2000, Sony had sales of US $63 billion and 189,700 employees. Sony
acquired
Aiwa corporation in
2002.
Film production & theaters
- Columbia/Tri-Star, including:
-
Columbia Pictures
- Tri-Star Pictures
- Jim Henson Productions (partial interest)
- Mandalay Entertainment (partial interest)
- Phoenix Pictures (partial interest)
- Sony Pictures Classics
- Sony Pictures Entertainment
- Columbia-Tri Star Home Video
- Sony/Lowes Theaters
- Magic Johnson Theaters
- Loews - Star Theaters
Notable products
The following is a partial list of products marketed by Sony:
Video tape recording:
Computers:
Video game consoles:
-
PlayStation
-
PlayStation 2
Computer printers:
-
Sony PictureStation DPP-EX50
Removable media:
-
Minidisc
-
Laserdisc
-
Memory Stick
Robotics:
Personal stereo:
Televisions:
-
FD Trinitron
-
LCD WEGA
-
Grand WEGA
Projectors:
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