Increasing popularity of digital music downloads has pushed down the iconic cassette Walkman of Sony. Japanese company has announced that it will soon cease the production of the device. Sony has given the signal to the end of an era by ceasing the production of its cassette music players in the market of Japan.

In 1980’s these personal music devices were very popular, it helped people to listen to their favorite music while on move. But recently with the launch of iPods and other MP3 players which use digital tracks instead of physical media, the popularity of cassette Walkman has gone down. According to Sony its April shipment will be its last. Sony has sold more than 200 million Walkmans since its sale from 1979.

Though the Walkman was replaced by portable CD player of Sony, the Discman, and other range of mini disc players, it still sold the Walkman in modest numbers until very recently, until the launch of iPod. And people moved to MP3 files instead of cassettes and CD’s which contributed to the collapse of Walkman.

According to Sony, it would contribute to sell some cassette Walkmans in some parts of Asia and Middle East where there is a demand for the device. Walkman stays on as part of music phones of Sony Ericcson and new digital music players as well.


Written by: josh, who runs a website about Tech News