Sony was founded in 1946 as Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation.
Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita established the company in Tokyo after World War II. It began by repairing and building electrical equipment before expanding into consumer electronics, entertainment, financial services, and gaming.
The company adopted the name Sony in 1958. The name was chosen to work internationally and has been linked to the Latin word sonus, meaning sound, and the informal English word “sonny.” Sony later became globally associated with products such as the Walkman, Trinitron televisions, PlayStation consoles, and professional cameras.
Sony is not the same company as Panasonic, Hitachi, or Toshiba, although all are major Japanese electronics groups. Sony's publicly traded parent is Sony Group Corporation, whose businesses now extend well beyond traditional hardware manufacturing.