Before there were 1000 songs in your pocket, before there was the era of white earphones and music, there was the Sony Walkman.
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Sony Almost Never Made the Walkman!

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It all started with the earliest version of the compact cassette recorder, which was developed by Philips in the 1960s.
Later on, an inventor named Andreas Pavel reiterated the design for carrying it around the waist to listen to music via headphones in 1970.

Did you know that the first Walkman was sold under a different name: It Was called Wasei-eigo

He notably, went on to claim the idea of the Walkman, but the drama ended because Sony had made a pocket-sized mono cassette recorder, TC-50 back in 1969, hence winning the suit and retaining its rights to the Walkman.

From the genius minds of Masaru Ibuka & Norio Ohga, The Walkman took its earliest form of the “World’s first personal Stereo”.
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With innovations like cassette-sized pocket stereo, autoreverse capabilities and rechargeable batteries, Sony always kept its customers, looking forward to more.

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​The ability to play one’s personal choice of music and listen privately was a huge selling point of the Walkman, especially among teens, who greatly contributed to its success.

The Walkman didn’t just transform music; it also transformed Sony’s financial fortunes.

In the ’80s, it accounted for over 50% of Sony’s total operating profit.
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By 1983, a mere four years after its debut, the Walkman had already crossed the billion-dollar mark in sales revenue.

By 2009, when production ceased, over 385 million Walkman units had been sold globally.

Starlord listening to 70's tunes on his Walkman, the scene from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fast forward to today, Its unmistakable identity became a cinematic icon (yet again), notably in "Guardians of the Galaxy".
The film's success, surged Walkman-related merchandise, and spiked Sony's stock by 2% in the months following the movie's release.

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To Recapture the past magic, Sony Launched NW - A306, a digital upgrade on its retro predecessor in 2023., without Much Success