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The Sony Corporation, stylised as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerates corporation chiefly focused on consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services.
Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its four operating components: electronics, motion pictures, music and financial services.
- On the global consumer as well as professional market, the Sony Corporation is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products.
- Sony is one of the leading sellers of semiconductors.
- When it comes to televisions, Sony is the 5th largest manufacture in the world, only Samsung, LG Electronics, TCL and Hisense are larger.
Background
In 1946, just after World War II, Masuru Ibuka opened an electronics shop in Tokyo, with a starting capital of ¥190,000 and a total of eight employees. Soon, Akio Morita joined Ibuka and they founded a company named Tokyo Tsunshin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). This company built the first Japanese tape recorder; the Type-G. In 1958, the company name was changed to Sony.
Corporate information
The Sony Corporation is a kabushiki gaisha registered to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan and on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States.
Data from the 30th of September 2017 show:
- 1,264,649,260 issued shares
- 484,812 shareholders
The five largest shareholders were:
| Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (JAPAN) | 10.7% (136,130,000) |
| Citigroup Inc. (USA) | 8.7% (109,396,000) |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. (USA) | 6.1% (77,467,000) |
| State Street Corporation (USA) | 5.6% (71,767,000) |
| The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (JAPAN) | 5.6% (70,720,000) |
Short facts about the Sony Corporation
| Japanese name | ソニー株式会社 |
| Transcribed name | Sony Kabushiki Kaisha |
| English name | Sony Corporation |
| Former name | Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK (1946-1957) |
| Company type | Public (K.K) |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Headquarters | Minato, Tokyo, Japan |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founded | In Tokyo, Japan on the 7th of May 1946 |
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| Operating income in 2017 | ¥712.7 billion |
| Net income in 2017 | ¥507.6 billion |
| Total assets in 2017 | ¥17.690 trillion |
| Total equity in 2017 | ¥2.897 trillion |
| Number of employees in 2017 | 128400 |
Examples of major holdings and subsidiaries
This list only includes major holdings and subsidiaries.
In Japan
| AII Inc. (60.9%) |
| AK Holdings Corporation |
| Animax Broadcast Japan Inc. |
| AXN Japan Inc. |
| FeliCa Networks, Inc. (57%) |
| ForwardWorks Corporation |
| Frontage Inc. (60%) |
| Kids Station Inc. |
| M3 Inc. (39.4%) |
| MotionPortrait, Inc. |
| Mystery Channel, Inc. |
| P5, Inc. |
| Polyphony Digital Inc. |
| So-net Media Networks Co.,Ltd |
| Sony Assurance Inc. |
| Sony Bank Inc. |
| Sony Biz Networks Corporation |
| Sony Business Solutions Corporation |
| Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. |
| Sony Creative Products Inc. |
| Sony DADC Japan Inc. |
| Sony Energy Devices Corporation |
| Sony Enterprise Co.,Ltd. |
| Sony Facility Management Corporation |
| Sony Financial Holdings Inc. (62.99%) |
| Sony Global Education, Inc. |
| Sony Global Manufacturing & Operations Corporation |
| Sony Global Solutions Inc. |
| Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc. |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. |
| Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. |
| Sony Lifecare Inc. |
| Sony LSI Design Inc. |
| Sony Marketing Co., Ltd. |
| Sony Mobile Communications Inc. |
| Sony Mobile Communications Japan, Inc. |
| Sony Music Artists Inc. |
| Sony Music Communications Inc. |
| Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. |
| Sony Music Labels Inc. |
| Sony Music Marketing Inc. |
| Sony Network Communications Inc. |
| Sony Olympus Medical Solutions Inc. (51%) |
| Sony PCL Inc. |
| Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) Inc. |
| Sony Real Estate Corporation (56.3%) |
| Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation |
| Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation |
| Sony Video & Sound Products Inc. |
| Sony Visual Products Inc. |
In mainland China and Hong Kong
| Sony (China) Ltd. |
| Sony Electronics (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. |
| Beijing Suohong Electronics Co., Ltd. |
| Shanghai Suoguang Electronics Co., Ltd. |
| Shanghai Suoguang Visual Products Co., Ltd. |
| Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Ltd. |
| Sony International (Hong Kong) Ltd. |
In the rest of Asia (excluding the Middle East)
In Australia & New Zealand
| Sony Australia Limited |
| Sony Computer Entertainment Australia Pty. Ltd |
| Sony New Zealand Ltd. |
In the Middle East & Africa
| Sony Middle East and Africa FZE (UAE) |
| Sony Eurasia Pazarlama A.S. (Turkey) |
In Europe
| Sony Austria GmbH. |
| Sony Benelux B.V. (Netherlands) |
| Sony Berlin G.m.b.H. (Germany) |
| Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited (UK) |
| Sony Czech, spol. s.r.o. |
| Sony DACD Austria A.G. |
| Sony DADC Europe Limited |
| Sony DADC, OOO (Borovsk, Russia) |
| Sony Deutschland G.m.b.H. (Köln, Germany) |
| Sony Espana S.A. (Spain) |
| Sony Europa B.V. (Netherlands) |
| Sony Europe GmbH (Germany) |
| Sony France S.A. |
| Sony Global Treasury Service Plc (UK) |
| Sony Hungaria kft (Hungary) |
| Sony Italia S.p.A. (Italy) |
| Sony Logistics Europe B.V. (Netherlands) |
| Sony Mobile Communications AB (Sweden; head office in United Kingdom) |
| Sony Nordic A/S (Denmark) |
| Sony Overseas S.A. (Switzerland) |
| Sony Poland Sp.z.o.o. (Poland) |
| Sony Portugal Ltda. (Portugal) |
| Sony Service Centre (Europe) N.V. (Brussels, Belgium) |
| Sony Slovakia s r. o. (Slovakia) |
| Sony United Kingdom Ltd. |
In North America
| Sony of Canada Ltd. |
| Sony Corporation of America |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Sony USA (Previously Sony Electronics Inc.) |
| Sony/ATV Music Publishing |
| Sony Music Entertainment Inc. |
| Sony Mobile Communications Inc. |
| Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. |
| Sony Latin America Inc. |
| Sony Creative Software |
| Sony Magnetic Products Inc. of America Sony Puerto Rico, Inc. |
| Sony de Mexico S.A. de C.V. |
| Sony de Mexicali, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico) |
| Sony Nuevo Laredo,S.A. de C.V. (Mexico) |
| Sony de Tijuana Oeste, S.A. de C.V. (Mexico) |
| Sony Corporation of Panama, S. A. |
In South America
| Sony Comercio e Industia Ltda. (Brazil) |
| Sony Componentes Ltda. (Brazil) |
| Sony da Amazonia Ltda. (Brazil) |
| Sony Chile Ltda. (Chile) |
| Sony Argentina S.A. |
