How Sony Became a Global Brand—and Shaped Apple

Speaking of Sony, most of us recognise its popular game gadget “PlayStation”. Even if you’re not a gamer, you must know this brand name for home appliances like TVs.
But Sony is not only that. In this article, you will know how Sony became a world-famous Japanese brand.

From the Founding to the Birth of the Walkman

Once upon a time Sony was getting massive attention from the world. The small gadget you can carry wherever to enjoy your favourite music, Sony Walkman, was so new as a portable audio player at that time in 1979. Many Gen X—and later, Millennials—either owned one or begged for one.Walkman was a portable cassette player, so if you are not familiar with cassettes, you have no idea what it is. Now we can listen to whatever music or podcasts we like by putting headphones, EarPods, or AirPods on. Let’s say Sony Walkman is the pioneer of portable audio gadgets, and even THAT Steve Jobs was fascinated by it.

Two Founders, One “Ideal Factory”

In 1946, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Totsuko). In Ibuka’s “Statement of Purpose,” they set a simple, radical aim: build an “ideal factory”—free, open, and enjoyable—where serious engineers can do their best work, and use technology to lift culture.

The Transistor Bet That Made Sony

Following visits to the United States in 1952–53, the company decided to license transistor patents from Bell Labs (Western Electric). In 1955, they commercialised Japan’s first transistor radio, the TR‑55. In 1957, they released the TR‑63, then the world’s smallest transistor radio. With the “pocketable” TR‑63, they coined the catchphrase “pocketable radio,” emphasising that it was even smaller than what “portable” usually implied.

However, when they tried to slip it into the standard dress‑shirt pocket of the day, the radio was just a bit too big—threatening to spoil the catchphrase. To make the sales pitch work, Akio Morita had shirts made with deeper pockets and pushed ahead with the demonstration. That small “extra stitch”—slightly enlarging the pocket—let salespeople wear the special shirts and sell the idea.

 By today’s standards it might seem pushy, but people were more easygoing then, and the “pocketable radio” was warmly received.

Despite a price of ¥13,800 (about a monthly salary), the TR‑63’s compact size and less‑than‑half power draw made it a hit—and Sony’s first major export model at $39.95, hot enough to charter JAL flights to the U.S. Momentum carried into 1958, when Totsuko rebranded as “Sony”—a short, Roman‑letter name (then unusual) coined from sonus + “sonny,” chosen over longer, industry‑locked alternatives.

Expansion into Video and Digital Music

The Walkman (TPS‑L2) arrived in 1979.
By creating a compact, cassette‑based portable device, Sony embedded a new concept worldwide: spending everyday life accompanied by music, effectively ushering in the “privatization of sound” in urban spaces. The origin is said to have been an internal need—Ibuka’s request—“to listen to high‑quality music even on long journeys.”

Afterward, Sony—together with Philips—achieved great success in standardizing the Compact Disc (CD), a format still in use today, and released CD Walkman models, seizing dominance in portable music devices. Yet that very triumph later became the seed of failure: confidence born from past victories in standards battles led to missteps down the road.

From the Glory of the Walkman to Competition with the iPod(1990s–2000s)

Barriers to the Digital Shift

Sony’s insistence on MD/ATRAC, proprietary DRM, and its own software (CONNECT) fragmented the user experience. Internal conflicts between the electronics and music businesses also became a drag. Past success in format wars created a sense of urgency that its own formats must become the norm, and thinking drifted too far toward fighting the battle in hardware.

The “iPod shock”

Steve Jobs studied the Walkman so closely he literally took it apart, and in 1999 he paid tribute to Akio Morita at an Apple event. Deeply admiring Sony and Morita—both their product philosophy and organizational outlook—Jobs launched the iPod (2001). Through vertical integration with iTunes and digital distribution, Apple reduced “buy → load → listen” to the bare minimum. Although the Walkman brand had been synonymous with portable music, Apple seized leadership in the digital era. The value the Walkman established—“mobile × personal”—was carried forward by the iPod. 

Well… Apple discontinued the iPod in 2022.

Let me share my nostalgia…

The technology transition is too fast! As a person who experienced both Sony Walkman and the iPod when I was younger,  I feel massive nostalgia towards them as they are no longer produced due to an explosive growth of smartphones. 

Personally, though I much prefer the convenience of smartphones to those retro gadgets, the memory of sharing my earphones with my bestie and enjoying music together on a bus to the school is still shining.

Not well-known fact — Steve Jobs × Sony (and Morita)

Steve Jobs deeply admired Sony and its co‑founder Akio Morita from a young age. Their product taste and corporate culture left a mark on him. Later, Apple and Sony even worked together—on standards like IEEE 1394 (FireWire)—though they also clashed over formats and digital distribution.

How Sony Shaped Apple (1979 → 1999)

• Jobs was so captivated by the Walkman that he took one apart to see how it worked. (The New Yorker)
  
• In October 1999, during an Apple keynote, Jobs opened by paying tribute to Akio Morita, who had just passed away; the segment appears in event footage and news captions from the day. (YouTube)
  
• Former Apple CEO John Sculley later recalled: “He really wanted to be Sony. He didn’t want to be IBM. He didn’t want to be Microsoft.” (Cult of Mac)

The Sony Uniform → Origin of the Black Turtleneck (1980s)

• Visiting a Sony factory, Jobs noticed Issey Miyake–designed uniforms that helped forge company identity. Sony’s adoption of Miyake’s designs was documented at the time. (The Christian Science Monitor)
  
• Jobs tried (and failed) to introduce uniforms at Apple—so he adopted the black turtleneck himself; reputable retrospectives credit Miyake with making the iconic tops Jobs wore for years. (TIME)

Collaboration… and friction (1990s–2000s)

• Collab: Apple spearheaded IEEE 1394 (“FireWire”) with significant contributions from Sony (which branded it i.LINK). FireWire became the DV camcorder/desktop‑video workhorse—perfect for iMovie‑era Macs. (Wikipedia)
  
• Clashes: Sony long pushed proprietary audio formats/DRM (e.g., ATRAC and the Connect store) just as Apple popularized open-ish, MP3/AAC‑based ecosystems—philosophies that collided in the early digital‑music wars. Sony ultimately shuttered Connect and moved to common formats. (WIRED)

Conclusion

Sony’s story starts with Ibuka & Morita in a bombed‑out department store and winds up with PlayStation, Walkman, Alpha, BRAVIA, and the tiny camera chips inside billions of phones. Morita became the West‑facing ambassador; Ibuka set the engineering DNA. And that “Sony way” didn’t just shape Japan—it helped shape Apple, Hollywood, and how the world listens, watches, plays, and records.

If you enjoy this post, you might also like:
Why the World’s Biggest Convenience Store is Now a Japanese Company
Uniqlo and Tadashi Yanai: How Japan’s LifeWear Brand Took on the World
Why Sanrio Is More Than Just Cute: The Power of Kawaii