Although Sony's reason for getting into the entertainment business was to promote its "hardware" (CDs, cassette players, TVs, VCRs) by owning the "software" (records, tapes, films), the software lines have become substantial in their own right. Sony has investments in the US entertainment business on a par with its electronic manufacturing outlays in Japan. Its entertainment assets include Columbia and Tri-Star film studios, Loews cinemas, videogames, and Columbia and Epic records.
CEO Norio Ohga has stated that the future for Sony, whose electronic sales have floundered in recent years, lies in what is happening in the US, the home of both the major movie studios and the largest consumer electronics market in the world.
In 1993 Sony consolidated its US entertainment and electronics concerns into one organization with Michael Schulhof as its CEO. US sales accounted for $11.2 billion of the company's 1994 sales of $35 billion. And while the music side of the business has done well, expensive movie flops like Last Action Hero and Wolf have hurt sales, with little sign of the anticipated synergistic spinoff in increased hardware sales.
WHEN
In 1953 Morita paid Western Electric (US) $25,000 for transistor technology licenses - a move that sparked a consumer electronics revolution in Japan. His company launched one of the first transistor radios in 1955, followed by the first Sony-trademarked product, a pocket-sized radio, in 1957. The company changed its name to Sony in 1958. It introduced the first transistor TV (1959) and the first solid- state videotape recorder (1961). Sony preempted the competition, becoming a leader in these newly emerging markets.
Morita moved to New York in 1960 to oversee US expansion. Sony launched the first home video recorder (1964), solid-state condenser microphone (1965), and integrated circuit-based radio (1966). Sony's 1968 introduction of the Trinitron color TV tube began another decade of explosive growth. Its Betamax VCR (1976) fell prey to products employing rival Matsushita's VHS technology. The Walkman (1979), in all its forms, was another Sony success.
By 1980 Sony faced an appreciating yen and intense price and quality competition, especially from developing Far Eastern countries. The company used its technology to diversify outside consumer electronics, and it began to move production to other countries to reduce the effects of currency fluctuations. In the 1980s Sony introduced Japan's first 32-bit workstation and became a major producer of computer chips and floppy disk drives. It also developed compact disc technology in partnership with Philips.
Sony acquired CBS Records from CBS for $2 billion in 1988 and Columbia Pictures from Coca-Cola in 1989 for $4.9 billion. The purchases made Sony a major force in the rapidly growing entertainment industry and gave the company a source of software material to sell with new hardware products.
Sony manufactures Apple's wildly successful PowerBook and the Data Discman, a portable CD player that displays text and audio from reference books. Data Discman was a hit in Japan in 1991 but failed to take off in the US. In 1992 Sony allied with Sega to develop CD video games and with Microsoft to make electronic audio/video/textbooks. Also in 1992 Sony launched a high-end CD player with a 90MHz High Density Linear Converter system, which minimizes distortion.
In 1993 Morita suffered a brain hemorrhage but recovered after surgery; he resigned in 1994. Earnings fell dramatically from 1992 to 1994.
NYSE symbol: SNE (ADR) Fiscal year ends: March 31
WHO
Honorary Chairman: Akio Morita, age 73 President and CEO: Norio Ohga, age 64 Executive Deputy President (Finance and Personnel): Tsunao Hashimoto President and CEO, Sony Corp. of America: Michael P. Schulhof, age 51 Chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment: Peter Guber Auditors: Price Waterhouse
WHERE
HQ: 7-35, Kitashinagawa 6-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141, Japan Phone: +81-3-5448-2111 Fax: +81-3-5448-2244 US HQ: Sony Corp. of America, 9 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019-2791 US Phone: 212-833-6849 US Fax: 212-833-6923 US HQ: Sony Electronics Inc., Sony Dr., Park Ridge, NJ 07565 US Phone: 201-930-1000 US Fax: 201-358-4058WHAT1994 Sales
$ mil. % of total US 11,208 31 Japan 9,939 27 Europe 8,085 22 Other countries 7,018 20 Total 36,250 100
1994 Sales
$ mil. % of total Audio equipment 8,162 22 Video equipment 6,491 18 Televisions 5,999 17 Music 4,483 12 Pictures 3,182 9 Other products 7,933 22 Total 36,250 100 Commercial/Industrial Products CD-ROM drives Charge-coupled devices Components Factory automation systems Home video game software Optical pickups Semiconductors Consumer Brands Betamax Discman MiniDisc Walkman Consumer Products Audio systems Audiotapes Camcorders Car navigation systems CD players Laserdisc players Still-image video cameras TVs and VCRs Videotapes Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment
KEY COMPETITORS
AT&T BASF Bertelsmann Blaupunkt Bose Canon Credit Lyonnais Fuji Photo Fujitsu Hitachi LG Group Matsushita 3M Motorola NEC News Corp. Nokia Oki Olivetti Philips Pinnacle Micro Pioneer Rank Samsung Sanyo Sharp Thomson SA Thorn EMI Time Warner Toshiba Trimble Navigation Turner Broadcasting Viacom Walt Disney Zenith
HOW MUCH
1985 1986 1987 Sales ($ mil.) 5,196 5,806 8,246 Net income ($ mil.) 291 345 257 Income as % of sales 5.6% 5.1% 3.1% Earnings per share ($) 1.07 1.25 0.95 Stock price - high ($)* 15.79 19.43 21.36 Stock price - low ($)* 11.59 12.27 16.48 Stock price - close ($)* 12.73 18.52 18.63 P/E - high 15 16 23 P/E - low 11 10 17 Dividends per share ($) 0.15 0.14 0.19 Book value per share ($) 8.69 11.14 14.60 Employees 44,000 44,900 48,700
1988 1989 1990 Sales ($ mil.) 11,655 16,678 18,617 Net income ($ mil.) 268 549 650 Income as % of sales 2.3% 3.3% 3.5% Earnings per share ($) 1.05 1.65 1.76 Stock price - high ($)* 36.59 53.18 59.77 Stock price - low ($)* 16.59 32.16 45.22 Stock price - close ($)* 34.31 52.61 54.99 P/E - high 35 32 34 P/E - low 16 20 26 Dividends per share ($) 0.25 0.27 0.25 Book value per share ($) 19.81 22.22 24.75 Employees 60,500 78,900 95,600
1991 1992 1993 1994 Sales ($ mil.) 26,249 29,495 34,766 36,250 Net income ($ mil.) 832 905 316 149 Income as % of sales 3.2% 3.1% 0.9% 0.4% Earnings per share ($) 1.85 2.21 0.80 0.41 Stock price - high ($)* 55.90 49.88 38.00 50.63 Stock price - low ($)* 36.59 31.38 28.25 32.00 Stock price - close ($)* 39.09 34.63 34.13 49.88 P/E - high 30 23 48 124 P/E - low 20 14 35 78 Dividends per share ($) 0.27 0.29 0.34 0.39 Book value per share ($) 28.19 31.03 33.33 34.54 Employees 112,900 119,000 126,000 130,000 1994 Year-end: Debt ratio: 50.4% Return on equity: 1.2% Cash (mil.): $5,486 Current ratio: 1.44 Long-term debt (mil.): $9,551 No. of shares (mil.): 374 Dividends
Yield: 0.8%
Payout: 95.1% Market value (mil.): $18,642
1995 1996 1997 1998 Sales ($ mil.) 26,249 43,326 45,670 Net income ($ mil.) (3,296) 512 1,124 Income as % of sales 3.2% 3.1% Earnings per share ($) (7.83) 1.26 2.49 Stock price - high ($)* Stock price - low ($)* Stock price - close ($)* P/E - high P/E - low Dividends per share ($) 0.47 0.47 Book value per share ($) Employees 138,000 151,000 163,000 *Stock prices are for the prior calendar year.
Hoover's Company Profile Database, Copyright (C), 1995, The Reference Press, Inc., Austin, Tx.