Since becoming independent from Sony Group Corporation (formerly Sony Corporation) in 2014, VAIO Corporation has continued to grow with a focus on the corporate PC business.
Masaki Yamano, President and CEO of VAIO Corporation, reflects on the company’s journey, its current business environment, product philosophy, and guiding principles.
Masaki Yamano, President and CEO of VAIO Corporation
Independence from Sony and a Resurgence
Through High-End Models for Corporate Customers
The story of VAIO began 28 years ago, in 1997. As Sony’s personal computer brand, VAIO first gained global admiration across generations for its lightweight and slim mobile notebook PCs, known for their high-quality audio-visual capabilities and sophisticated design.
However, as the business expanded, it faced mounting challenges due to intense price competition from overseas manufacturers. The growing popularity of smartphones and tablets further compounded its financial difficulties, ultimately resulting in operating losses. In 2014, Sony sold its PC business to an investment fund, leading to the establishment of VAIO Corporation as an independent company .
As Japan’s only dedicated PC manufacturer, we are headquartered in Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, at the foot of the Northern Japan Alps, where both our main office and factory are located. We began a new chapter by uniting all aspects of the monozukuri spirit—development, manufacturing, quality assurance, and customer service—under one roof.
This marked the beginning of VAIO’s second chapter.
As the new VAIO, our first initiative was to reassess the scale of our operations. We made a strategic decision to temporarily withdraw from overseas markets and focus on the domestic notebook PC business for corporate customers.
During the Sony era, VAIO products were primarily targeted at individual consumers. Shifting our focus to corporate customers wasn’t an easy transition. Without an established sales track record or industry expertise in this segment, we had to build our corporate business from scratch. Corporate customers prioritize consistent quality and durability over cutting-edge features or high-end specifications. In response, we made significant revisions to our designs and focused on developing cost-effective products that confidently meet the needs of business users through ongoing improvements. Since the company’s founding, every VAIO PC has been meticulously assembled and finished by skilled technicians through our proprietary Azumino FINISH® process. Each unit undergoes more than 120 quality checks before leaving our Azumino factory. It’s no exaggeration to say that we’ve been continuously and rigorously committed to quality since day one.
The company achieved profitability in 2016 as a result of our persistent efforts and substantial cost reductions.
In March 2021, we launched the VAIO Z—a flagship mobile PC that carries on the brand’s legacy from the Sony era. Although signs of VAIO’s revival had begun to emerge, the company was still only halfway to true success.
I was appointed President in June 2021. By that time, we were beginning to feel the momentum behind VAIO’s revival. However, we also recognized the limitations of remaining solely in the “premium niche” market.
While our operations were stable, our high price points were hindering sales growth.
If we continued to focus exclusively on high-spec, high-priced PCs, we would end up with engineers working solely for their own satisfaction, while providing nothing in terms of meaningful sales growth. Without increased sales, costs would inevitably rise, and lead us toward a dead end. Even our most loyal fans could eventually turn away from us, making it impossible to sustain the VAIO brand.
To address this, we shifted our strategy to offer not only high-end models but also more affordable ones. I encouraged our engineers with a new vision: “Let’s create a VAIO that will be appreciated by a million people rather than just 10,000”.
Developing accessible products that still embody the essence of VAIO—so customers can instantly recognize, “This is a VAIO,”—is far more challenging than simply amassing the best technologies to create premium products. Nevertheless, we overcame this significant challenge. In June 2023, we launched the VAIO® F14 and F16 for individual customers, as well as the VAIO® Pro BK and BM for corporate clients. Taking this opportunity, VAIO has expanded its product lineup to include not only premium models featuring the latest technologies but also high-quality, affordable options that cater to the diverse needs of our customers.
In 2024, our company celebrated its 10th anniversary and became a member of the Nojima Group. We view this milestone as the beginning of VAIO’s third chapter, as we strive to accelerate the brand’s growth.
At the same time, our independence remains respected. Everything VAIO has cultivated—our company name, brand identity, business policies, and the monozukuri philosophy rooted in our main factory—will remain unchanged.
VAIO’s Unique Product Philosophy:
“Inspiring, Ingenious, and Genuine”
In the spring of 2023, we reconsidered a simple question: What makes VAIO unique? Through this reflection, we defined three key points to our product philosophy: “Inspiring,” “Ingenious,” and “Genuine.” These principles articulate the values VAIO has always cherished and embody our unwavering strength.
“Inspiring” goes beyond just the sophistication of the design. Much like a luxury car, whose value lies not only in its appearance but also in the quality of the driving experience and refined functionality, VAIO’s inspiration comes from the functional beauty found in every detail.
“Ingenious” represents the comfort and ease of use expected from a PC that serves as a true partner to its user. A VAIO must be a device that dramatically enhances its user’s productivity. It features hinges that open effortlessly with one hand, a tilt-up hinge mechanism angled to allow comfortable typing, and an efficient heat dissipation design that maximizes CPU performance. AI noise-canceling technology ensures clearer audio during web conferences, while VAIO User Sensing® enables automatic face recognition login. Together, these features demonstrate how this PC becomes your ingenious partner.
“Genuine” means superior quality—not an imitation. What sets VAIO products apart is their ability to maintain value even after long-term use. Customer satisfaction comes from lasting durability, such as palm rests that resist shine over time and keycaps with characters that won’t fade or peel. As mentioned earlier, our meticulous quality control process, known as Azumino FINISH®, contributes to an exceptionally low initial defect rate.
VAIO products are always one step ahead of the times. We believe that every product must embody three core philosophies: “Inspiring,” “Ingenious,” and “Genuine.” These philosophies reflect our commitment to staying close to our customers and delivering the best possible computing experience as a true partner in their lives. With VAIO’s beautiful design and refined feel, high performance, effortless usability, commitment to quality, and a sense of assurance that deepens over time, we would be truly delighted if these qualities could inspire our customers to pursue new challenges.
Our “Guiding Principles” that
VAIO Employees Should Embrace
We have already shared our product philosophy. In 2023, as part of our commitment to becoming a better and truly outstanding company, we also established a set of guiding principles.
A principle is defined as “a fundamental way of thinking about how something should be.” What is the purpose of VAIO’s existence? How should our employees think and act? By clarifying these principles, we can strengthen our unity as an organization and help us achieve greater results as a team.
In addition to the product philosophy mentioned earlier, we have now redefined five guiding principles that reflect the values VAIO has held dear for many years.
Specifically, these are: (1) Integrity, (2) Respect, (3) Freedom and Openness, (4) Professionalism, and (5) One Team. We always act with integrity and treat everyone, both inside and outside the company, with respect.
We embrace new challenges freely and openly, unbound by stereotypes. Each of us approaches our work with professional pride and a strong sense of responsibility. And together, we strive to work as a team to maximize our collective value. These principles are intended to serve as our code of conduct.
While they may seem straightforward, the reality is that not everyone can practice them perfectly. For instance, someone who is naturally honest might struggle to think freely because they are confined by existing boundaries. By reflecting on these guiding principles, employees can use self-reflection as a basis for personal growth.
Embedding these clearly defined guiding principles as explicit knowledge within the company is one of the key factors that will enable VAIO to continue moving forward.
Our Focus as Corporate Sales Grow to 90% of Our Total Revenue
I’d like to share how we’ve strengthened relationships and improved our approach with corporate clients.
When I became President, I felt that although VAIO products offered the durability and quality demanded by the corporate market, we weren’t fully communicating these strengths.
To address this, we focused on building strong relationships with distributors and exclusive partners, encouraging them to actively recommend VAIO products to their customers. At the same time, we consistently conducted high-touch sales visits directly with end-users. By allowing customers to experience VAIO PCs firsthand, we steadily raised awareness of their quality and increased opportunities for adoption.
To ensure VAIO’s continued growth in the corporate market, we’ve identified two key customer groups. The first group consists of the decision-makers in companies’ information systems departments responsible for PC procurement. For them, key considerations include cost performance, ease of implementation, and comprehensive support systems. VAIO excels in all these areas, and we make sure to clearly communicate these strengths.
The second group is the end users—the employees who actually use the PCs. Even if the IT decision-makers are convinced of the product’s benefits and choose to implement it, overall productivity won’t improve if the end users are dissatisfied. While cost is a priority in the corporate market, corporate users are ultimately individuals. Focusing solely on cutting costs and getting in a price war with rivals isn’t realistic. We believe that delivering an exceptional user experience is what truly defines VAIO’s unique value.
Steering our company toward the corporate market from the start was undoubtedly the right decision. We are confident that the next 10 years will be a phase of even greater growth. Centered around our corporate business, sales have doubled over the two years from 2022 to 2024. While the overall PC market remained flat, we achieved record-high sales for the two consecutive fiscal years ending in May 2023 and May 2024. We are confident that we will set another record high in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, despite it spanning an irregular 10-month period.
We’ve expanded our sales offices, with locations now in Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka, in addition to Tokyo. Alongside our development base in Azumino, we’ve also established a new facility in Tachikawa. In April 2025, we adopted a dual-headquarters structure, with offices in both Azumino and Tokyo, the business hub of Japan. This strategic expansion positions VAIO as a truly nationwide company, enabling us to deliver our products to even more customers throughout Japan.
The Key to Future Business Growth
VAIO has achieved steady growth, primarily in the corporate market. However, we believe that there is still significant room for expansion.
According to an external survey, when company IT managers were asked to name three business PC brands, only 4% mentioned VAIO. In other words, just one in 25 decision-makers involved in PC procurement thinks of VAIO. This figure is almost identical to our current share in the domestic corporate market. Brand recognition is directly reflected in market share.
On the other hand, VAIO ranked first among Windows PCs in the NPS (Net Promoter Score), which measures how likely users are to recommend a product to others. This indicates that those familiar with VAIO’s business PCs hold the brand in high regard.
If we can boost awareness of VAIO as a business PC brand, it will likely drive further growth. Moreover, as VAIO gains more fans in the corporate market, this could eventually lead to expansion into the consumer market.
For instance, someone who uses a VAIO at work might recommend it to their family. While building on our strong foundation in the corporate market, we believe that expanding into the consumer market will further elevate the VAIO brand’s recognition.
We’re also broadening our focus beyond PCs to include peripherals and related services, with the aim of creating a more comfortable office environment centered around PCs. We remain committed to developing products that enhance user comfort, such as the VAIO Vision+®, the world’s lightest* mobile display, launched in July 2024.
We believe that the value of “Made in Japan” still resonates strongly in overseas markets. By leveraging the superior quality of VAIO products, we are renewing our expansion into the U.S., Chinese, and broader Asian markets—building a global following that recognizes VAIO as “Inspiring, Ingenious, and Genuine.” This renewed global expansion is also a key part of our vision for the future.
*Among mobile displays with widescreens of 14.0 inches or larger.
As of June 14, 2024, according to Stella Associa.
VAIO’s Third Chapter
Evolving with our customers as a partner in realizing their ideals.
Lastly, I would like to discuss the third chapter in the story of VAIO. In this third chapter, we will further strengthen the relationships we have with our customers. We will leverage our strengths as a domestically funded PC manufacturer to provide both corporate and individual users with high-quality products and support, ensuring that they can use our products with peace of mind and satisfaction.
In the first chapter, the VAIO brand became established, with our products garnering high praise as useful “gadgets”.
In the third chapter, we hope for our products to transcend their status as “gadgets” and become not just something convenient for our customers, but something they can love, depend on, and want to have close by at all times―a companion that can make them happy just by having it with them. Our goal is for VAIO to evolve together with our customers, as a partner in helping them realize their ideals.
My dream is for VAIO products to be loved and highly regarded not only in Japan, but around the world. The company VAIO is a group of people working day and night to make that dream a reality. I am sure that, in the near future, we will increase our presence in society as a truly outstanding company and make even greater contributions to the betterment of the world.
We may not be the largest PC manufacturer but hopefully will be recognized as a “shining star” around the world.
