Sony Group
OVERALL |
|
Owned |
JPN |
Rating |
![]() |
Conglomerate
Sony restructured itself in 2021, changing its name from Sony Corporation to Sony Group Corporation. Major business divisions are video games (PlayStation), music and film, electronics products & solutions, imaging & sensing and financial services.
Sony Group Corporation | JPN | website |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Sony Group Corporation | ||||
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change Score of A.
Source: CDP (2022)
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to manage and govern freshwater resources. Responding companies are scored on six key metrics: transparency; governance & strategy; measuring & monitoring; risk assessment; targets & goals; and value chain engagement. This company received a CDP Water Security Score of A-.
Source: CDP (2022)
As You Sow's 2019 report, Mining the Disclosures, is a deep analysis of 215 companies' human rights performance in relation to sourcing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This company's score was 60.7% (Good).
Source: As You Sow (2019) |
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including brands owned by this company. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's 2020 report estimates (somewhat conservatively) that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps.
Source: ASPI (2020)
This company received a score of 11.2/100 (retrieved 10-Oct-2020) in the Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI), a system for evaluating supply chain practices in China, particularly in regards to environmental management and water pollution. Scores are calculated using government compliance data, online monitoring data, and third-party environmental audits, as well as trends in the environmental performance of factories in the company's supply chains.
Source: IPE (2020)
A 2017 report by Amnesty International, 'Time to Recharge' ranks major electronics and car companies on how much they have improved their cobalt sourcing practices since January 2016. The report found that while a handful of companies have made progress, many are still not doing enough to stop human rights abuses entering their cobalt supply chains, even though their products could be linked to child labour in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This company was rated 'minimal action taken'.
Source: Amnesty Intl (2017)
In 2020/21 KnowTheChain benchmarked over 180 large global companies in the ICT, Food & Beverage, and Apparel & Footwear sectors on their efforts to address forced labour and human trafficking in their supply chains. This company received a score of 36/100.
Source: KnowTheChain (2021)
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio division of Japan-based Sony Corporation, contributed US$8.9 billion (12%) to the parent company's US$75.2 billion revenue total in 2018. Since 2002, 56 percent of Sony's youth-rated films have featured smoking, the most of any major studio. Sony published its first internal policy on tobacco depictions at the end of 2012. The share of Sony's PG-13 films with smoking dropped below 50%, for the first time, in 2016 but the share of all Sony films with tobacco has since rebounded.
Source: Smoke Free Media (2022)
The 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assessed 127 companies in the food and agriculture, ICT and automotive manufacturing sectors on their human rights performance. This company received a score of 19.0%. The overall average score was a disappointing 17.3% and the highest score was 50.3%.
Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2022)
This company scores Ethical Consumer's worst rating for the likely use of tax avoidance strategies, and has at least two high risk subsidiaries in tax havens.
Source: Ethical Consumer (2022) |
The Electronics TakeBack Coalition's Recycling Report Card evaluates takeback and recycling programs for computer, TV, printer and game console companies. The report card focuses on the programs available to consumers in the US, and relies on publicly available information, as of Sept 2010. This company received a grade of D for its recycling efforts in the USA.
Source: Electronics TakeBack Coalition (2010)
This company received a grade of D+ in the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics (Oct 2017), which assesses companies from the electronics industry across three impact areas: energy use, resource consumption, and chemical elimination. Of the 17 companies ranked, this company came ninth. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Greenpeace (2017)
This company was fined STG250,000 (AU$378,000) by Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a data breach that compromised the personal information of millions of customers using PlayStation video games consoles. The ICO fined Sony after it found the cyber attack in April 2011 could have been prevented if Sony's software had been up to date.
Source: The Australian (2013)
This 2016 scorecard by SOMO compares electronics companies on their policies and efforts regarding responsible mining and the elimination of child labour, with special attention to the mining of gold. This company is above industry standard on only 2 out of 7 criteria.
Source: Stop Child Labour (2016)
The Poisonous Pearl is a 2016 report by Good Electronics which focuses on the experiences of (former) workers in the electronics industry in China who are victims of chemical poisoning. The health of all the workers in the report was damaged by exposure to hazardous chemicals such as benzene and n-hexane. All were working in large or small factories in the Pearl River Delta-region of China, an area well known as being a global hub for the production of consumer electronics (ICT). This company is supplied by factories in the region.
Source: SOMO (2016)
In November 2017 the Enough Project published Demand the Supply, which ranked consumer electronics and jewelry retail companies on their efforts to develop conflict-free minerals supply chains from Congo. Companies were ranked on reporting; sourcing conflict-free minerals from Congo; supporting the artisanal mining communities in Eastern Congo; and conflict-free minerals advocacy. This company received a score of 33.5/120. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Enough Project (2017)
Taiwan's Fair Trade Commissioner has given fines totalling US$1.8m to four electronics makers, including Sony Optiarc, for fixing prices of optical disc drives. The companies exchanged information through email, telephone and meetings regarding quotations and information provided during open-bid competition for optical disc drives held by computer makers Dell and Hewlett-Packard from 2004 to 2009. Sony Optiarc received a fine of US$170,000.
Source: Want China Times (2012)
This company appeared seventh on RepRisk's top ten "Most Controversial Companies of 2015". Companies on the list were severely criticised during 2015 by the world's media, governments and NGOs. Criticisms of Sony include human rights abuses and corporate complicity, anti-comptetitive practices, corruption, discrimination and OHS issues. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: RepRisk (2015)
This company received a score of 39.1/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target; commit to 100% renewable power.
Source: We Mean Business (2021)
This company is a participant in the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade (PPA), a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder initiative to support supply chain solutions to conflict minerals challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Great Lakes Region (GLR) of Central Africa. The PPA provides funding and coordination support to organizations working within the region to develop verifiable conflict-free supply chains; align chain-of-custody programs and practices; encourage responsible sourcing from the region; promote transparency; and bolster in-region civil society and governmental capacity.
Source: PPA (2019)
This company has Corporate Social Responsibility claims on its website including the areas of ethics and compliance, respect for human rights, environment and responsible supply chain.
Source: company website (2020)
This company is a member of the Responsible Minerals Initiative (formerly the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative), which helps companies address conflict minerals issues in their supply chains. The RMI provides information on conflict-free smelters and refiners, common tools to gather sourcing information, and forums for exchanging best practices on addressing conflict minerals. Membership is open to companies that use or transact in tantalum, tin, tungsten or gold (3TG). Founded in 2008 by members of the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative.
Source: RMI (2019)
This company is a member of the Responsible Business Alliance (formerly the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition), a non-profit coalition of electronics companies which supports the rights and wellbeing of workers and communities worldwide affected by the global electronics supply chain. RBA members commit and are held accountable to a common Code of Conduct and utilize a range of RBA training and assessment tools to support continuous improvement in the social, environmental and ethical responsibility of their supply chains.
Source: RBA (2022)
Press TV claims that evidence found from the war in Gaza in July 2014 showed that Sony provided Israel with cameras and high-tech control boards to equip its missiles.
Source: Press TV (2014)
C grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's Behind the Barcode 'Ethical Electronics Guide 2016', which grades companies on their efforts to mitigate the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation throughout their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, traceability & transparency, monitoring & training and worker rights. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2016)
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website (2018)
Engineers from ifixit.com disassembled and analysed a range of smartphones, tablets and laptops, awarding each a repairability score between one and ten. Ten is the easiest to repair. A device with a perfect score will be relatively inexpensive to repair because it is easy to disassemble and has a service manual available. Points are docked based on the difficulty of opening the device, the types of fasteners found inside, and the complexity involved in replacing major components. Points are awarded for upgradability, use of non-proprietary tools for servicing, and component modularity. Products released by this company between 2016 and 2017 scored 5 points.
Source: iFixit (2020)
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 41/100 in the Leisure Equipment & Products and Consumer Electronics category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 18 Nov 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022) |
Company Details
Type | Public company |
Founded | 1946 |
Revenue | 81.1 billion USD (2020) |
Employees | 109,700 (2020) |
Subsidiaries | Sony Australia Ltd ![]() Electronics wholesaler Products imported include home entertainment, portable audio, car and marine entertainment, computers, digital imaging, gaming, business solutions, and broadcast and production. Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc ![]() Video games Sony's video games division, responsible for Playstation hardware and software. Owns numerous gaming studios around the world who primarily make video games exclusively for Playstation consoles. Sony Corporation ![]() Electronics Umbrella company for three Sony business units - Electronics Products & Solutions, Home Entertainment & Sound, and Mobile Communications. |
Contact Details
Address | Tokyo, Japan |
Website | www.sony.com |
Products / Brands
Sony Australia
Playstation Gaming Consoles Playstation VR VR Headsets Sony Storage Media Sony Audio Equipment Sony Blu-Ray/DVD Players Sony Televisions Sony Cameras/Camcorders |
Sony Smartphones Sony Soundbars Sony Bluetooth Speakers Sony True Wireless Earbuds Sony SmartWatch Smartwatches Sony Xperia Tablets |
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Destiny Multiplayer Games God of War Action-Adventure Games Gran Turismo Racing Games Horizon Zero Dawn Action-Adventure Games LittleBigPlanet Platform Games Ratchet & Clank Platform Games The Last of Us Action-Adventure Games Uncharted Action-Adventure Games |