, is a Japanese multinational company specializing in a variety of areas in the

energy industry The energy industry refers to all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, oil refinery, refining and distribution. Modern society consumes large amounts of fuel, and the energy in ...

, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Devices Group of

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

. The company was established in February 1975 in Fukushima, Japan. Sony Energy Devices Corporation handles the development,

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and rechargeable cell batteries that can be used for many applications like

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s, tablets,

laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...

digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

power tool A power tool is a tool that is actuator, actuated by an additional engine, power source and mechanism (engineering), mechanism other than the solely manual labour, manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric ...

s, robotic cleaners,

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

es,

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-si ...

s, energy storage for data servers and homes, etc. In 2016, Sony and Japanese company Murata Manufacturing reached an agreement to sell Sony's lithium-ion battery business. This transfer of business was completed on September 1, 2017. The new company has been named Tohoku Murata Manufacturing. The sales department for Sony-branded consumer battery products and some other operations are still in business under Sony Energy Devices Corporation.

History

Foundation

Sony Energy Devices Corporation started in February, 1975 as Sony-Eveready a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Sony Corp and Union Carbide Corp of United States to design and manufacture batteries. In April, 1986 the joint venture dissolved and name changed to Sony Energytec.

Expansion

Between 1977 and 2000 Sony Energytec started production of many primary and secondary battery

technologies Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

, such as silver oxide batteries, alkaline-manganese dry batteries and lithium-ion batteries. In 2000 Sony Energytec merged with Sony Motomiya to form Sony Fukushima. In 2006 Sony Fukushima merged with Sony Tochigi to form Sony Energy Devices Corp. Esstalion Technologies, Inc was established in June, 2014 as a joint venture between

and

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...

Timeline

*1975 – Sony-Eveready established as joint venture between Sony Corp and Union Carbide Corp. *1977 – Production of silver oxide batteries. *1979 – Production of alkaline-manganese dry battery. *1982 – Production of lithium coin batteries. *1986 – The joint venture dissolved and name changed to Sony Energytec. *1991 – Production of lithium-ion batteries. *1998 – Started lithium-ion battery electrodes. *1999 – Production of lithium-ion polymer batteries. *2000 – Started power supply unit business. *2000 – Sony Energytec merged with Sony Motomiya to form Sony Fukushima. *2004 – Sony Fukushima merged with Sony Tochigi to form Sony Energy Devices Corp. *2006 – Production of lithium-ion battery pack. *2014 – Establishment of Esstalion Technologies, Inc., a joint venture between Sony and Hydro-Québec. *2016 – Sony Energy Devices agreed to transfer its battery business to Murata. *2017 – Transfer of the battery business to Murata is completed.

References

External links