Sony Corporation Case Analysis
Sony Corporation
Time Context: End of the fiscal year in March 2000
Viewpoint: Marketing Analyst
Facts:
March, 2000 - Sony Corporation began to redesign itself as a forward-looking company in the network era of the 21st century.
Consolidated net sales in the given fiscal year: 6,687 billion yen
Operating income: 241 billion yen
Sony's market capitalization: 9.1 trillion yen
4th among the Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as of May 18 2001 (Top 3 companies- NTT Docomo, Toyota, and NTT)
On June 29, 2000 Sony appointed a new management team consisted of Nobuyuki Edei, Chairman and CEO, Kunitake Ando, President and COO, and Teruhisa Tokunaga, CFO.
THE COMPANY
History and Background
Strengths and Weaknesses
Critical Elements of the Product or Service featured in the case
_HISTORY AND BACKGROUND_
Sony was established in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita as "Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo" which was then changed to Sony Corporation in 1958. Both Ibuka and Morita were keenly aware of the need to differentiate themselves from larger, more established competitors to avoid direct competition with them. The two had the goal to continuously develop innovative and "cutting edge" products.
Since the beginning, the Sony Corporation strove to create innovative products that had strong commercial appeal. Ibuka and Morita instilled the understanding that through distinctive research and development (R&D) and products, it would be possible for the company to offer new forms of lifestyle and enjoyment.
In the early days of Sony, because of failure to get assistance from some of Japan's largest global trading companies (GTCs) in selling Sony's transistor radios abroad, Sony chose to compete on its own through two main avenues: (1) on the basis of technological innovation, and (2) by pushing aggressively into overseas markets. While competitors centred its attention to domestic operations, Sony concentrated on American market for consumer electronic products
Time Context: End of the fiscal year in March 2000
Viewpoint: Marketing Analyst
Facts:
March, 2000 - Sony Corporation began to redesign itself as a forward-looking company in the network era of the 21st century.
Consolidated net sales in the given fiscal year: 6,687 billion yen
Operating income: 241 billion yen
Sony's market capitalization: 9.1 trillion yen
4th among the Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as of May 18 2001 (Top 3 companies- NTT Docomo, Toyota, and NTT)
On June 29, 2000 Sony appointed a new management team consisted of Nobuyuki Edei, Chairman and CEO, Kunitake Ando, President and COO, and Teruhisa Tokunaga, CFO.
THE COMPANY
History and Background
Strengths and Weaknesses
Critical Elements of the Product or Service featured in the case
_HISTORY AND BACKGROUND_
Sony was established in 1946 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita as "Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo" which was then changed to Sony Corporation in 1958. Both Ibuka and Morita were keenly aware of the need to differentiate themselves from larger, more established competitors to avoid direct competition with them. The two had the goal to continuously develop innovative and "cutting edge" products.
Since the beginning, the Sony Corporation strove to create innovative products that had strong commercial appeal. Ibuka and Morita instilled the understanding that through distinctive research and development (R&D) and products, it would be possible for the company to offer new forms of lifestyle and enjoyment.
In the early days of Sony, because of failure to get assistance from some of Japan's largest global trading companies (GTCs) in selling Sony's transistor radios abroad, Sony chose to compete on its own through two main avenues: (1) on the basis of technological innovation, and (2) by pushing aggressively into overseas markets. While competitors centred its attention to domestic operations, Sony concentrated on American market for consumer electronic products