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Breaking ties with Delmonico was considered a risky gamble. For Morita, however, it was the perfect chance to develop Sony's own direct distribution system in the U.S.
Bearing Sony's future in mind, I am confident that it is in our best interest to break ties with Delmonico and set up our own marketing structure. This is the only way to triumph against international competition in the U.S. market and to sell our new transistor products as we wish. Even if we fail, the experience will be an invaluable asset to the company. We must establish an overseas subsidiary which, like Sony Shoji, will sell directly to retail stores.
He contacted Tokyo to receive Ibuka's consent. Since government approval was needed to set up the wholly owned subsidiary in New York, officials from Sony head office in Tokyo were sent immediately to the Ministry of Finance for permission to finance the New York venture. After the transfer of $500,000, Sony Corporation of America was established on February 15, 1960.
Morita's next job was bringing Delmonico to the negotiating table. Delmonico had been taken aback by this unexpected turn of events. After hard bargaining by Edward Rosiny, an old friend of Morita's who acted as Sony's lawyer, Delmonico consented to terminate the contract, but demanded compensation. Sony found this totally unreasonable and the amount of compensation unacceptable. Reminding Delmonico of their breach of contract, Morita refused to give in to their demands. At any rate, the matter had to be settled smoothly, as the future of the newly established Sony Corporation of America was at stake. Thanks to Rosiny's tenacity and Morita's resolution, the matter was eventually settled, with final compensation set at a quarter of the original demand.
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 | | Edward Rosiny, Sony Corporation of America's first legal counsel. |
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The remaining problem was moving the 30,000 TR610 radios and other Sony products from Delmonico's warehouse. On a bitterly cold day in late February, Morita, Suzuki, Hiroshi Tada of the New York office, and Columbia University student Kazuya Miyatake, Sony's first scholarship student, used eight large rented trucks to transport the stock from Delmonico's warehouse on Long Island to 514 Broadway, where Sony's warehouse was located. They began at nine in the morning and did not finish unloading until five the next morning. The move was made without sleep or rest, and they even ate on the run.
Sony's office at 514 Broadway was midway between the Empire State Building and Manhattan's downtown area, at that time the center of New York City. It was Broadway, but a far cry from the bright theater and movie district of Times Square. Here, the back alleys were congested with trucks loading and unloading crates destined for the textile, machinery and furniture wholesalers and factories that lined the area.
Looking back, just two and a half years earlier, Morita had used Yamada's home as an office to contact Tokyo. Today, Sony had a full-fledged overseas subsidiary. While the new office was a mere 33 square meters, it was to serve as Sony's springboard to the international market. Morita was too moved for words.
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| Akio Morita and his family leaving for the United States in 1963 in order to expand Sony's presence.
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