Akio Morita (盛田昭夫) was the co-founder of Sony Corporation with his friend Masaru Ibuka. As head of Sony, he changed accepted marketing concepts and focused on brand identification and brand responsibility – a concept widely used today but virtually unknown at the time. By insisting on producing high-quality products with cutting-edge technology, Morita transformed the reputation of the Japanese technology industry so that it was associated with superior quality rather than cheap copies. As he himself said: “[They] made Sony the Cadillac of electronics. " Context. Morita Akio was born on January 26, 1921 in Tokoname, Aichi, Japan. in 1944, he graduated from Osaka Imperial University with a degree in physics. He then joined the IJN (navy) during World War II. During his service, Morita met his future partner and the most important friend of his entire life, Masaru Ibuka, in the Navy's Wartime Research Committee. On May 7, 1946, Morita and Ibuka founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, the forerunner of Sony Corporation) with approximately 20 employees. In 1949 the company developed magnetic recording tape and in 1950. In 1957 it produced a pocket radio and in 1958 Morita and Ibuka made the decision to rename their company Sony (sonus is Latin for sound, and Sonny-boys is Japanese slang for "child prodigies"). Morita was an advocate for all products made by Sony Corporation. In 1960, it produced the world's first transistor television. In 1979, the Walkman was introduced, making it the world's first portable music player. In 1984, Sony launched the Discman series which extended its Walkman brand to portable CD products. In 1960, the Sony Corporation of America was established in the United States. In 1961, Sony Corporation of America was the first Japanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Sony purchased Columbia Records and other CBS labels in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989. On November 25, 1994, Morita announced his resignation as president of Sony, after suffering a brain hemorrhage while playing tennis . Leadership Arts Akio could be called the spiritual leader of Sony, in charge of the areas of marketing, globalization, finance and human resources, Akio demonstrates great leadership. Unlike other businessmen hostile to their former partner, such as John D. Rockefeller, it was the friendship of Morita Akio and Masaru Ibuka that paved the way for Sony. —Ibuka, the engineering violinist, taking apart gadgets on his office floor to see how they worked; Morita the elegant manager, descendant of an old family of sake brewers, friend of the great and good on three continents.