In the 1970s, full-scale production in the US began, and Sony started the process of hiring American managers. Sony established sales channels throughout the United
States, a country twenty-three times the size of Japan, with SONAM at the center of the network.
The introduction of Trinitron color televisions was the first major step in Sony's US expansion. When Trinitron was introduced in the United States, Morita, who was then Vice President of Sony, insisted on inviting over two hundred US distributors and dealers to Japan for a ten-day Sony Convention in Tokyo. This was the first such experience for Sony, and it was unusual for the industry as well. Masaru Okumura and his group, the SONAM Department, spent approximately two months in the International Division preparing for this event. Thanks to their hard work, the convention was a success. It provided an important opportunity to exhibit what sort of company Sony was and the products that it produced such as the Trinitron television. The know-how obtained from this convention later became the foundation for Sony's future sales promotion events.
However, when it came to selling color televisions, marketing methods had to be modified. The concept behind Sony's new sales method was to broaden the contact between the consumer and Sony; in other words, to have Sony sales people explain the product directly to potential customers. Sony stopped selling through independent sales representatives and dealers, replacing them with Sony's own salespeople.
As Trinitron TVs were sold through the newly established channels, Sony's brand image was heightened. Steiner, an avid baseball fan, expressed his joy with the very American statement that,  This will enable Sony to join the major leagues.
The beginning of the 1960s was truly a time of new development. Hoping to sell as many Sony products as he could in order to develop the market, Morita founded Sony Corporation of America and lived in the US to spearhead the operation. If it had been baseball, Sony would have started as a minor league player. From that point, Sony had successfully launched the transistor television, introduced the Trinitron television line, established its own sales and servicing channels, constructed manufacturing facilities in San Diego and Dothan, and hired American management. Through this Sony promoted its brand name and the impressive sales figures prove Sony's success. Basically, Steiner was trying to say that Sony had acquired the power to join the major leagues of the US electronics industry.
The 1970s were a time for laying the foundations for localized management, production and R&D operations. The foundations, built in the US and Europe during this period, greatly contributed to Sony's rapid growth in the 1980s and early 1990s under Morita's principle of global localization.
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