Later, Sony set up its European headquarters in Britain. Morita, who won the honorary gold medal of Wang Li Art College, made the following speech at the award ceremony: "Sony has been creating new things." Hearing this, everyone present felt that this sentence was full of mystery. Maybe some of them laughed and thought that Sony was just a typical example of using European inventions to succeed. After slowly scanning the audience, Morita continued: "The so-called new music, called Sony, is as new English as the Walkman." This remark caused a burst of sudden laughter even in a solemn venue full of British gentlemen. In this speech, members of parliament suggested that Morita be awarded the honorary certificate of advanced English conversation, which shows that the British are a nation with a great sense of humor.
Sony's first product is the TR-52 radio developed by semiconductor in Japan for the first time, but the company name is not named as Morita said in his speech in Britain. When TR-52 was exported to the United States, the name Tort-suko (トッコ Japanese pronunciation) was used, probably because Americans don't like strict pronunciation, so they considered changing the brand name. This is like the abbreviations used by TKK and East Express subway, while the abbreviations of NHK and CBS are similar to those of TV stations, which are easy to impress the public. At that time, Dongtonggong sold its own tape recorder-magnetic tape under the name of SONI. SONICI in English is the plural of Latin SONUS, which is the etymology. This SONI was combined with the popular word "SONNY BOY" (cute little boy) at that time, which was Sony. However, for the convenience of pronunciation, the letter was changed to four words, and the world-famous Sony was born. The new transistor radio "TR-52" also began to shine with this new name. At that time, there were even office workers who specially customized shirts with large pockets to put transistor radios, which became popular all over the country. 1958, the company officially changed its name to "Sony Corporation" and its shares were also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Adhere to the brand
Morita took TR-52 engraved with the name "Sony" to the United States for the first time, and went to various retail stores at a price of $29.95, but it could not be sold. At this time, a "BURORBA Company" ordered100000 units, but Morita refused. The main reason is that the company's conditions require Sony to use their trademarks when selling in the United States. At that time, BURORBA was one of the few watch manufacturers in the United States, but Morita didn't want to be a satellite factory. Company employees told Morita, "Our company has a history of more than 50 years and is a traditional company." However, Morita also replied rudely: "Our company will definitely not lose to you after 50 years, and it will definitely become famous." However, in less than 50 years, the results are already obvious. Only people who are interested in watches know about BURORBA company. Ironically, BURORBA watches from the 1950s are really valuable because they can already be classified as antiques. In contrast, Sony has now become a world-famous brand. "I don't feel sorry for refusing such an order. On the contrary, I have confidence in my own brand. " At that time, the order of 654.38+ million was like a dream, and Morita refused. Therefore, when Morita found out that a chocolate manufacturer used Sony's name to launch products, his feelings of suing were easy to understand. "Trademark is the life of an enterprise, and it should be protected even if it is difficult. I always thought so. Trademarks and company names must bear the responsibility of ensuring product quality. Therefore, it is also a kind of theft to use the trademark that others have worked hard to establish bit by bit. We can never forgive such a thief. "
The end of childhood
Sony advocates "technology" as the symbol of products. In order to protect this trademark, Morita insisted on selling it himself, so he set up a sales company in the United States. Therefore, Sony was born in 1960. At the same time, Sony reorganized its Geneva office in Switzerland and established SOSA in Europe. After 1955 TR-55 and 1957 TR-63 were sold, Sony transistor radios became world-class bestsellers. In the face of swarming orders and impatient customers, Sony doesn't have to consider the cost at all and flies directly to the United States. In this way, Sony ended its infancy in the eleventh year of its business and laid the foundation for the standard-bearer of the "Japanese Miracle Renaissance".
New lecturer
After entering 1980, the BETA system of video tape also entered the stage of being eliminated, thus casting a shadow over the myth of Sony. Then Morita received the bad news of the sudden death of President Kazuo Iwatani. AV's recession Gensonnie's inventory is piling up, which is the first time that it has to rely on throttling to make a living.
The president during this period was Daiwa Kazuo. President Yamato was specially promoted at that time, and 1982 took office, just over 50 years old. Jing Daole was born on 1930 1 29 in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture. He was a wealthy timber merchant at home, but he was an opera singer with special experience. Although the reasons for the failure of BETA cannot be counted, the biggest reason is the failure of software policy. (refers to the dispute between Sony's BETA and Panasonic's VHS, in which Sony ended in failure. ) During the period of rapid increase of video tapes, BETA software hardly grew. Therefore, VICTOR Company of Japan, which developed VHS, also participated in the production of films, videos and other works, including CIC VICTOR and BACK IN MUSIC. Under its banner, Victor Industries has all the capabilities needed to make movies; With such strength, we can develop the possibility of diversification.
CBS can provide some software. President Morita promoted President Yamato after the death of President Iwatani, a pure technician. The main reason is that Daiwa is the operator who knows the most about software, and he has considerable expectations for Daiwa to become the president.
Sony's first attempt to set up CBS Sony was the idea put forward by Yamato. 1967 at the same time of foreign capital liberalization, the largest CBS record company in the United States is looking for a partner who can set up a subsidiary in Japan. At that time, when CBS put forward this idea to Japan and Colombia, it was still inconclusive. Finally, Sony, who is interested in software, was chosen, which is a good thing for Sony. If there is a record department, it can directly enhance the impression of the company's audio strength in the eyes of the world. Therefore, 1967 10 started negotiations, and soon1February signed the relevant peace treaty for the merger of the company. 1968, CBS Sony Company was formally established, with Yamato as the practical director.
The success of layman's commercial law
CBS Sony is backed by a huge enterprise, guarded by the recording industry and officials in charge of supervision. According to Japan's administrative guidance law, Sony is not allowed to increase the company's personnel by poaching people, such as record-related people and artists. Regardless of educational background, age and gender, Daiwa Company recruited people in an unprecedented way, with a total of 7,000 applicants, 80 of whom were selected, and there was no so-called "industry personnel". CBS Sony, composed of this layman, opened a revolutionary era for the ancient recording industry in a reasonable way.
Then, with the support of big stars, Sony established the SD department, established a unique recruitment system and gave birth to many artists. Cultivating artists from scratch has created a high-yield system for CBS Sony.
Sony canceled the stylus.
Nagaoka, the first manufacturer in Japan to provide 80% needles, believes that people who know a little about records should be familiar with it. However, in August of 1990, the dissolution of Nagaoka was also the terminator of EP and LP records. It was the eighth year of Sony's establishment that Sony cooperated with Philips of the Netherlands to develop CD, and the CD was listed in 1882 10. Five days before that, Yamato flew to Greece with his newly completed CD and held a meeting with record companies all over the world. But the response of the recording industry at that time, including CBS records in the United States, was very cold. For LP record companies with mature market, CD has not attracted much attention. The view of the industry is that there will be no record stores in the market and they will be willing to sell records and CDs at the same time. As we all know, compared with records, CDs are quite good in sound quality, small in size and easy to operate. The sound is optically read from the CD without contact, so the service life can be said to be almost semi-permanent.
Although CD has many advantages, the record industry is not very willing to cooperate in order to protect the existing record market, so it is still inconspicuous. In other words, at this stage, we need to rely on software to provide a fuse for CD discs, and CBS Sony is the party that makes efforts at this time. It has grown into a popular CBS and played a powerful role. In terms of hardware, 1984 the world's first CD player "Diskmand-50" went on the market. Sony attacked the market with a powerful software strategy, which led to the best-selling degree of CD like a volcanic eruption. After it was lit in Japan, the popularity of CD gradually spread to the world. In the end, CDs will drive traditional records out of the market. Yamato later said that without CBS, CDs might not be popular at all. So Sony once again realized the importance of software. After the failure of BETA system and the victory of CD, Sony finally paid more attention to software.
1987, CBS Sony acquired the parent company CBS of the United States, with a total amount of 2 billion US dollars (about 270 billion yen at the exchange rate at that time). At that time, although some people criticized that the purchase price was too high, CBS made a turnover higher than the purchase price in the second year after entering Sony Group, which had quite high benefits. Sony, which succeeded in M&A, began to pay attention to the monetary field of images and wanted to visit American film companies in Sony.