Akio Morita showed his belief that he could control his own destiny early in Sony's history. It had created the first transistor radio, which Morita took to the US. The Bulova Watch company came up with an order for 100,000 units, worth several times Sony's capital, on one important condition. The radios had to carry Bulova's name. Morita wouldn't agree. The Bulova man was astounded:
'Our company is a famous brand name that has taken over fifty years to establish. Nobody has ever heard of your brand name.' Morita replied, 'Fifty years ago your brand name must have been just as unknown as our name is today. I am now taking the first step for the next fifty years of my company. Fifty years from now I promise you that our name will be just as famous as your company name is today.' Three decades on, Bulova is just another watch brand: the Sony brand spells high enough quality and reputation to attract premium prices and underpin assets which now total $41.7 billion.
Morita, born in 1921, founded the business in 1946 with Masaru Ibuka, backed by only a few hundred dollars of family capital. The first significant product was an American-inspired tape recorder. In the 1950s, however, Ibuka found the newly invented transistor at Western Electric, and immediately licensed the new technology for a down-payment of $25,000. The first pocket transistor radio, launched by Sony in 1957, started the company on its upward trajectory.
By 1990, it was the world's 51st largest company, thanks to breakthroughs like the Walkman, the video cassette recorder, 8mm video and many others. Ibuka supplied the technical brilliance and Morita the marketing genius: he thus, Sony chose as company and brand name because 'that way we would not have to pay double the advertising cost to make both well-known.' And Morita has always called the Bulova decison the best he ever made.
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