Masaru Ibuka dies at 89

Sony Corp. co-founder

Masaru Ibuka, who co-founded Sony Corp. and led the development of tape recorders, transistor radios and the Trinitron TV system, died of heart failure Dec. 19 in Tokyo. He was 89.

"He sowed the seeds of deep conviction that our products must bring joy and fun to users," Sony presi-dent Nobuyuki Idei said in a statement.

Ibuka co-founded Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp., later renamed Sony Corp., early in the postwar era in 1946 with Akio Morita, who is the company's honorary chairman.

Ibuka's expertise in magnetic powders and tape base material, which he acquired during his previous ca-reer at a photo chemical laboratory, led to the development of magnetic recording tape at Sony in 1949.

A year later, the company developed and marketed the first tape recorder in Japan.

Ibuka, who started as an ardent amateur radio operator in his teens, also led the development of many other firsts at Sony. They included Japan's first transistor radio in 1955 and the world's first transistor TV set in 1960.

-- Reuters