I also recommend "Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony" where Morita recounts the early days after the war of what became Sony. They decided early on to develop

I also recommend "Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony" where Morita recounts the early days after the war of what became Sony. They decided early on to develop a tape player and it is interesting to read the crazy things they tried, having no domestic source of tape and almost no resources, working in a bombed-out area of Tokyo. It took them several years to develop tape and then a recorder, and eventually they developed the expertise to make smaller and smaller devices culminating in the Walkman. As an aside, Steve Jobs was an admirer of Morita and the Sony Walkman could be seen as a precursor to the Apple iPod. Also Apple's efforts to make ever-thinner and compact devices could also be related back to the Sony efforts to make ever-smaller and compact devices, this being perceived as a key part their success during Morita's time.