Kazuo Iwama
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
A company veteran who joined Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo in 1946, shortly after its founding. He followed a technical path, leading transistor and semiconductor development and running the U.S. subsidiary, and became Executive Vice President in 1973. In a company where Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita stood side by side, he was the first person after the two founders to become president. He supported the company's model of competing through focused technology rather than expanding into a general electrical maker, working from the side of components rather than finished products.
Selection
In January 1976 he succeeded Akio Morita as President; Morita became Chairman and Masaru Ibuka Honorary Chairman. Both founders stepped back from the front line together. In the period ended October 1975, the year before he took office, sales were ¥295.5 billion and ordinary income ¥23.4 billion, down from ¥327.7 billion and ¥31.9 billion the year before. Coming in the first year growth stalled after the oil crisis, the choice appears to have been aimed at rebuilding technology and production rather than calling for expansion.
Initiatives
During his tenure, in 1979, Sony launched the Walkman portable player. In August of the same year it established Sony Prudential Life Insurance, a joint venture with Prudential Insurance of America in which it held 50%, stepping into finance, a business seemingly unrelated to electronics. The company later became Sony Life Insurance and grew into an earnings source that offset Sony's dependence on hardware sales. Sales grew from ¥295.5 billion in the period ended October 1975, before he took office, to ¥832.9 billion in the period ended October 1982, his final year.
Career
Career
Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1946 | Joined |
| 1973 | Executive Vice President |
| Jan 1976 | President |
| Aug 1982 | Stepped down as President |