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R.I.P: The Sony Walkman cassette player

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Oct 2010 10:52 User comments (19)

R.I.P: The Sony Walkman cassette player Sony has finally retired the Walkman cassette player, citing lackluster demand for the outdated device.
The company says they produced their last batch of the device in Japan in April and once that inventory clears out, the Walkman will be retired to the history books.

A Chinese company will still produce some units after Sony's supply is exhausted but it is hard to believe they will continue to produce for the foreseeable future.

Sony began selling the Walkman in 1979 and has seen 220 million units sold over the past 31 years.

Walkman sales have been in steep decline since the introduction of portable CD players and even more so with the launch of portable MP3 players earlier this ddecade.



Sony will continue to use the "Walkman" brand, however, in phones and media players.

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19 user comments

126.10.2010 00:07

Holyshit!!! They still make these things? I want one!!

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 26 Oct 2010 @ 12:07

226.10.2010 00:27

I had one but gave it to a friend in 08.Shorty after got a discman given to me that has mp3 playback.

326.10.2010 01:01

Didn't even know they still sold the cassette walkman! Come to think of it, I haven't seen a Sony Discman for sale in the stores recently either.

426.10.2010 03:28

Wow. Truly an end of an era. Got my first walkman back in 1984 or so. The darn thing has hogged more AA batteries than any other electronic device I've ever owned :-)

526.10.2010 04:54

Amazing...not just that they are still making players, but that there are still cassette tapes that are in good enough shape to listen to...

626.10.2010 07:41

Dang...My first Walkman was given to me by my sister back in 1995; she used it for about 6 years and then she passed it on to me when she bought a CD Player (don't remember the brand). I used that thing for hours everyday, specially at school. Ahh, the good ol' days... :-P

726.10.2010 08:22

I loved my walkman from ages ago...they are gone but not forgotten!

826.10.2010 10:01

I don't know anybody who didn't have one of these things at one point in time. I'm an 80's baby and everybody had one. I had a bunch of cassette tapes. I still do have them but they are in storage somewhere.

926.10.2010 10:04

I had three, mostly cause my sisters would keep taking mine. Eventually I did switch over to cds tho, but it was hip to have one of these once upon a time. Honestly even in Japan, I surprised it lasted this long, way to go Sony.

1026.10.2010 10:39

I can't believe it. They were really still making them? i wonder what else Sony is still make? Betamax players maybe LOL

1126.10.2010 11:48

It really lasted a long time

1226.10.2010 11:56

i still use mine believe it or not, great for jogging and other exercises where sharp movement is involved. where cd's just don't cut it.

i make my own MP3 tapes real easy. create a play list on your computer take the line in on a tape recorder plug into the speaker jack on the pc. hit record then play the playlist.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 26 Oct 2010 @ 11:57

1326.10.2010 13:07

Does anyone else hear 2001: A Space Odyssey music when they read this post?

1426.10.2010 14:28

Originally posted by DXR88:
i still use mine believe it or not, great for jogging and other exercises where sharp movement is involved. where cd's just don't cut it.

i make my own MP3 tapes real easy. create a play list on your computer take the line in on a tape recorder plug into the speaker jack on the pc. hit record then play the playlist.
You're serious?

1526.10.2010 23:10

He can't be serious...you can get a 4GB MP3 player for $10.

1627.10.2010 02:00

yes i am...im old school like that...

1727.10.2010 02:02

Originally posted by KillerBug:
He can't be serious...you can get a 4GB MP3 player for $10.
why pay $10.00, Ive got blank cassettes out the hole.

hell i still have a 10 piece box of recordable 8-track tapes still in the original wrapper.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 27 Oct 2010 @ 2:05

1827.10.2010 10:06

RIP

1930.10.2010 02:38

Originally posted by DSWarrior:
Dang...My first Walkman was given to me by my sister back in 1995; she used it for about 6 years and then she passed it on to me when she bought a CD Player (don't remember the brand). I used that thing for hours everyday, specially at school. Ahh, the good ol' days... :-P
Think my walkman was given to me by my sister in about 98 after she'd had it for years.she'd just brought a discman.think most people got a walkman off there older sister or brother at 1point in their lives.my discman is panasonic not sony.still good.
walkmans and discmans chew through batteries like theres no tomorrow lucky ive got rechargables.

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