Sony

Sony is a Japanese company that started in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded it, and the name changed to Sony in 1958. The Walkman portable cassette player of 1979 made the brand known worldwide.

Today the group covers several fields. Sony Interactive Entertainment makes the PlayStation consoles and runs a large games business. Sony Pictures produces films and television. Sony Music is one of the three major record companies.

The electronics side sells Bravia televisions, Alpha cameras, headphones and audio gear. Sony Semiconductor Solutions makes image sensors that appear in many smartphone cameras. The company also has a financial services arm in Japan. Its headquarters is in Tokyo. Sony Group is listed in Tokyo and New York. The company has changed its mix of businesses many times over the decades, and it has been through several rounds of restructuring. It also runs Crunchyroll, a large streaming service for anime, and holds stakes in other media firms.