Sony, the Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, is one of the world’s biggest companies. Founded in 1946, the Company invented many modern devices which became cult favorites. Here are some unknown facts about this giant corporation.
Unknown facts about Sony
1) The Company was founded as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (TTK) by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita during the beginning of World War II. However, the Company changed its name to Sony after 12 years after Akio Morita’s visit to the United States, when he discovered westerners had trouble pronouncing the Company’s name.
2) Sony once invented a rice cooker which was a massive failure and sold less than 100 units. It quickly developed a reputation for making undercooked rice or burning the rice altogether.
3) Sony produces devices exclusively for prison inmates. One such example is the Walkman SRF-39FP. The walkman has a see through case which prevents prison inmates from hiding anything inside the device.
4) A camcorder released by Sony in 1998 caused quite some controversy. The camcorder was equipped with a night vision mode which could see through dark clothes due to infrared light. The Company realized its mistake too late and had to recall the product despite selling almost 700,000 units.
5) The uniform of Sony’s employees is designed by Issey Miyake, a famous Japanese fashion designer known for his technology driven clothes. Issey Miyake is also the person behind designing the signature black turtlenecks worn by Steve Jobs.
6) The Company started producing pocket radios in the late 1950s and claimed it was the world’s smallest radio. However, a problem which the Company faced was the radios were too big to fit in shirt pockets. Sony, in order to stay true to its claim, custom made shirts with larger pockets for its salesmen, to make the radios look pocketable.
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