Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka established Sony in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo.
The company was founded in Tokyo on May 7, 1946, shortly after World War II. Its original Japanese name, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, means Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. The founders aimed to create innovative consumer electronics rather than simply repair existing equipment.
In 1958, the company adopted the name Sony Corporation. The new name was short, easy to pronounce in many languages, and connected with ideas such as sound and the Latin word sonus. Sony’s international growth accelerated through products including transistor radios, televisions, audio equipment, and later the Walkman.
A common mix-up is confusing Sony’s founding name with its later global brand. Sony did not begin with that name in 1946; Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was the original corporate identity, and the Sony name arrived twelve years later.