Walkman
Template:Short description Template:About Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:No footnotes Template:Infobox information appliance Template:Nihongo is a brand of portable audio players manufactured by Sony since 1979. It was originally introduced as a portable cassette player and later expanded to include a range of portable audio products. Since 2011, the brand has referred exclusively to digital flash memory players.
The Walkman became widely popular during the 1980s for its portable design and private listening experience. It influenced popular culture by promoting individualized music consumption and supporting activities such as aerobics. Its widespread use gave rise to the "Walkman effect," a term describing how portable music devices and headphones allow listeners to control their sonic environment. In 1986, "Walkman" was added to the Oxford English Dictionary, and in some markets the term became a genericized trademark for portable audio players.<ref name="Batey16_140">Template:Citation</ref> The Walkman also contributed to the widespread adoption of the Compact Cassette format, which surpassed vinyl record sales in 1983. Sony sold approximately 220 million cassette-based Walkman units before ending production in 2010.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>
Sony also achieved commercial success with its CD-based models (originally marketed as the Discman, later rebranded as the CD Walkman), and by 2010, cumulative sales of all Walkman devices had reached around 400 million units.<ref name=":2" /> However, despite extensive marketing efforts, MiniDisc Walkman devices remained a niche product. In the digital era, Sony was unable to replicate the brand’s earlier success, as Apple's iPod range gained widespread popularity and limited international Walkman sales.
The Walkman’s influence on consumer electronics has been compared to later devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.
History of the cassette Walkman
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In March 1979, at the request of Masaru Ibuka, the audio department modified the small recorder used by journalists, "Pressman", into a smaller recorder. After many people praised the good sound quality evaluation, Sony, under the leadership of Akio Morita, began to launch the Walkman in July 1979. Morita positioned Walkman in the youth market, emphasized youth, vitality, and fashion, and created a headset culture. In February 1980, he began to sell Walkman to the world, and in November 1980, he began to use the non-standard Japanese and English brands globally. The Walkman has sold more than 250 million units worldwide. When Morita was knighted in October 1992, the headline in the British newspapers The Sun and The Daily Telegraph was "Arise, Sir Sony Walkman".<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
The Compact Cassette was developed by the Dutch electronics firm Philips and released in August 1963. In the late 1960s, the introduction of prerecorded compact cassettes made it possible to listen to music on portable devices as well as on car stereos, though gramophone records remained the most popular format for home listening.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Portable tape players of various designs were available, but none of them were intended to be operated by a person as they were walking. In the 1970s, Brazilian inventor Andreas Pavel devised a method for carrying a player of this type on a belt around the waist, listening via headphones, but his "Stereobelt" concept did not include the required engineering advancements to yield high-quality sound reproduction while the tape player was subject to mechanical shock as would be expected on a person walking. Pavel later lost his suit claiming the Walkman idea as his own.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="independent_05.18.96">Template:Cite web</ref> Finally in 2003, with Pavel threatening to file infringement proceedings in the remaining territories where he held protective rights, Sony approached him with a view to settling the matter amicably, which led to both parties signing a contract and confidentiality agreement in 2004. The settlement was reported to be a cash payment in the "low eight figures" and ongoing royalties of the sale of certain Walkman models.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka used the company's bulky TC-D5 cassette recorder to listen to music while traveling for business. He asked the executive deputy president Norio Ohga to design a playback-only stereo version optimized for walking. The metal-cased blue-and-silver Walkman TPS-L2, the world's first low-cost personal stereo, went on sale in Japan on July 1, 1979, and was sold for around ¥33,000 (or $150.00).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Though Sony predicted it would sell about 5,000 units a month, it sold more than 30,000 in the first two months.<ref name=":1" />
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The Walkman was followed by a series of international releases; as overseas sales companies objected to the wasei-eigo name, it was sold under several names, including Sound-about in the United States, Freestyle in Australia and Sweden, and Stowaway in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eventually, in the early 1980s, Walkman caught on globally and Sony used the name worldwide. The TPS-L2 was introduced in the US in June 1980.<ref name=":1" />
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The 1980s was the decade of the intensive development of the Walkman lineup. In 1981, Sony released the second Walkman model, the WM-2, which was significantly smaller than the TPS-L2, thanks to the "inverse" mounting of the power-operated magnetic head and soft-touch buttons. Sony applied the "Walkman" brand to some transistor radios starting with the matching blue SRF-40 FM Walkman in 1980,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and added a radio system to some Walkman cassette models starting with the model WM-F1 in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first model with Dolby noise-reduction system and an auto reverse function appeared in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first ultra-compact "cassette-size" Walkman was introduced in 1983, model WM-20, with a telescopic case. This allowed even easier carrying of a Walkman in bags or pockets.<ref name="sony.net">Template:Cite web</ref> In October 1985, the WM-101 model was the first in its class with a "gum stick" rechargeable battery.<ref name="sony.net"/> In 1986 Sony presented the first model outfitted with remote control, as well as one with solar battery (WM-F107).
Within a decade of launch, Sony held a 50% market share in the United States and 46% in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1989, two limited edition 10th anniversary models were released (WM-701S/T) in Japan, made of brass and plated in sterling silver. Only a few hundred were built of each.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A 15th anniversary model was also made on July 1, 1994, with vertical loading,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a 20th anniversary on July 1, 1999, with a prestige model.
By 1989, 10 years after the launch of the first model, over Template:Nowrap Walkmans had been sold worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Template:Nowrap units were manufactured by 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By 1999, 20 years after the introduction of the first model, Sony sold 186 million cassette Walkmans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Portable compact disc players led to the decline of the cassette Walkman,<ref name="CNN.com_Sony_retires_the_cassette_Walkman_after_30_years">Template:Cite news</ref> which was discontinued in Japan in 2010.<ref name="ABC_News_10/25/10_Walkman">Template:Cite web</ref> The last cassette-based model available in the US was the WM-FX290W,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which was first released in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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WM-F5 "Okinawa" Sports Walkman
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WM-F404, high-end model with TV tuner (1988)
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A "Sport" Walkman model from the early 1990s
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Sony Walkman WM-EX194 (2004)
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Discman, MiniDisc, and digital Walkman
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After the success of the cassette Walkman, Sony extended the brand name to other portable non-cassette audio products: for example in 1990, Sony released Digital Audio Tape (DAT) players marketed as DAT Walkman,<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> then in 1992 it launched the MD Walkman brand for portable MiniDisc players. Earlier, Sony also marketed the Discman line of portable compact disc (CD) players which started to rebrand as CD Walkman in 1997.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sony also used the name on other products, such as in 1989 when Sony released portable Video8 recorders marketed as Video Walkman.
With the decreasing relevance of cassette tapes, Sony unified the entire Walkman range of products into a single Walkman name and branding in the summer of 2000, and a new small W. icon was designed as part of the logo which remains in use to this day.<ref name="auto" />
From 2012, Walkman was also the name of the music player software on Sony Xperia. It has since been rebranded to Music.
Digital players (1999–present)
[edit]On December 21, 1999, Sony launched its first ever digital audio players (DAP) under the name Network Walkman (the VAIO division also released a DAP at the same time). The first Walkman DAP used Memory Stick as its storage medium to store audio files in flash memory. It was branded as MS Walkman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> shortly before the Walkman brand unification.<ref name="auto" /> Most future digital Walkman models would instead use built-in solid-state flash memory, although hard disk based players were also made from 2004 to 2007.<ref name="hist" /> Since 2005, all Walkman DAPs have been marketed as simply Walkman and thereby dropping the Network prefix that was previously used for this range.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In its early years, the Walkmans came with OpenMG copyright protection and, until 2004, exclusively supported Sony's in-house ATRAC format; there was no support for industry-standard MP3 as Sony wanted to protect its records division, Sony BMG, from piracy.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, Walkman-branded mobile phones were also made by the Sony Ericsson joint venture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sony could not repeat the success of the cassette player in the 21st-century digital audio player (DAP) market. Rival Apple's iPod range became a large success in the market,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> hindering Walkman sales internationally,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> though it fared better domestically.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Network Walkman for several years had paltry market share and had also been struggling against numerous other rivals such as Creative, Rio, Mpio and iRiver, although sales and share did eventually increase fivefold in 2005 and continued improving, but remained small.<ref name="hist">Template:Cite web</ref> Its pricing policy, SonicStage software and lack of MP3 support in earlier years have been suggested factors of its performance.<ref name="hist" /> Its U.S. market share in 2006 was 1.9%, placing it behind Apple, SanDisk, Creative and Samsung.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Japan its share in 2009–2010 was between 43 and 48%, ahead of Apple for the first time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment, a Sony division who are not involved in Walkman products, officially described their PlayStation Portable (PSP) in 2004 as the "21st century Walkman".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While the PSP was a handheld game console first, it was also seen as a modern day portable multimedia and entertainment system akin to the original Walkman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Over the years, newer models of the digital Walkman included various new features. The first ever digital Walkman with a color display was the NW-A800 Series released in 2007 and it also provided, for the first time, video playback.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following year came the first with Bluetooth connectivity,<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> and in 2009 the first touchscreen Walkman, the X1000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Beginning in late 2006 and lasting until 2019, most new Walkman players had a proprietary WM-PORT terminal which was used not only for charging and syncing but also for connecting to compatible docks.<ref>https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00030299</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Other notable features of many Walkman players include the SensMe playlist technology, Karaoke Mode,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Virtual Studio Technology (VST), and various proprietary sound enhancement technologies such as DSEE and ClearAudio. Players compatible with high-resolution audio have been released since 2013.<ref name=":3" />
With the shrinking market for purpose-made portable media players during the 2010s, Sony streamlined its Walkman line, marketing a narrower range of products and with an increased emphasis on high-end audiophilic players. This began with the launch of the ZX Series Walkman in 2013<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and culminated in the luxurious WM1 Series first released in 2016, which is gold plated and retailed for several thousand US dollars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However outside the high-end space, and the mid-range A Series Walkman, as of 2025, Sony continue to market simple budget-oriented DAPs in the form of the E Series (NW-E390) and the thumb-style B Series (NWZ-B180) as well as the waterproof, sports-oriented WS Series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Marketing
[edit]Template:Main The marketing of the original Walkman helped introduce the idea of "Japanese-ness" into global culture, synonymous with miniaturization and high-technology.<ref name="Gay, Paul 1997">Du Gay</ref> The "Walk-men" and "Walk-women" in advertisements were created to be the ideal reflections of the viewing audience.<ref>Du Gay, 25</ref> Sony implemented a marketing strategy, hiring young adults to walk around in public wearing a Walkman, offering nearby people to test out the product. Sony also hired actors to pose with the Walkman around the streets of Tokyo as an additional form of promotion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
A major component of the Walkman advertising campaign was overspecialization of the device. Prior to the Walkman, the common device for portable music was the portable radio, which could only offer listeners standard music broadcasts.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> Having the ability to customize a playlist was a new and exciting revolution in music consumption. Potential buyers had the opportunity to choose their perfect match in terms of mobile listening technology. The ability to play one's personal choice of music and listen privately was a huge selling point of the Walkman, especially amongst teens, who greatly contributed to its success.<ref name=":0" /> A diversity of features and styles suggested that there would be a product which was "the perfect choice" for each consumer.<ref name="ReferenceA">Du Gay, 31</ref> This method of marketing to an extremely expansive user-base while maintaining the idea that the product was made for each individual "[got] the best of all possible worlds—mass marketing and personal differentiation".<ref name="ReferenceA" />
In the early 2000s, Sony debuted Plato, a blue alien, as its mascot for the Walkman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Impact and legacy
[edit]Culturally the Walkman had a great effect and it became ubiquitous.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Time, the Walkman's "unprecedented combination of portability (it ran on two AA batteries) and privacy (it featured a headphone jack but no external speaker) made it the ideal product for thousands of consumers looking for a compact portable stereo that they could take with them anywhere".<ref name=":1" /> According to The Verge, "the world changed" on the day the Walkman was released.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Walkman became an icon in 1980s culture.<ref name=":1" /> In 1986, the word "Walkman" entered the Oxford English Dictionary.<ref name=":1" /> Millions used the Walkman during exercise, marking the beginning of the aerobics fad.<ref name=":1" /> Between 1987 and 1997, the height of the Walkman's popularity, the number of people who said they walked for exercise increased by 30%.<ref name=":1" /> Other firms, including Aiwa, Panasonic and Toshiba, produced similar products, and in 1983 cassettes outsold vinyl for the first time.<ref name=":1" />
The Walkman has been cited as influencing people's relationship with music and technology, due to its "solitary" and "personal" nature, as users were listening to their music of choice instead of radio. It has been seen as a precursor of personal mainstream tech possessions such as personal computers or mobile phones.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Headphones also started to be worn in public. This caused safety controversies in the US, which in 1982 led to the mayor of Woodbridge, New Jersey banning Walkman from being worn in public due to pedestrian accidents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the market, the Walkman's success also led to great adoption of the Compact Cassette format. Within a few years, cassettes were outselling vinyl records, and would continue to do so until the compact disc (CD) overtook cassette sales in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In German-speaking countries, the use of "Walkman" became generic, meaning a personal stereo of any make, to a degree that the Austrian Supreme Court of Justice ruled in 2002 that Sony could not prevent others from using the term "Walkman" to describe similar goods. It is therefore an example of what marketing experts call the "genericide" of a brand.<ref name="Batey16_140"/>
A large statue of a Sports Walkman FM was erected in Tokyo's Ginza district in 2019 in celebration of the 40th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2025, a cassette Walkman from 1979 (model TPS-L2 ) was included in Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art featuring "widely recognized design icons [...] highlighting pivotal moments in design history."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Pirouette: Turning Points in Design</ref>
Current range
[edit]Below here is a timeline of recent Walkman models: Template:Timeline of Walkman models (2014–present) Walkman portable digital audio and media players are the only Walkman-branded products still being produced today, although the "Network" prefix is no longer used, the model numbers still carry the "NW-" prefix. The current product range as of 2024 are:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- A Series – mid-range players
- B Series (except Japan) – budget-oriented thumb style music players
- E Series – entry level players
- S Series (Japan) – entry level players
- W/WS Series – wearable music players
- WM1 Series – flagship luxurious high-end players (part of Sony's Signature Series of audio products)
- ZX Series – high-end music players
Since 2017, Sony provided the Music Center for PC software on Microsoft Windows, designed for both content transfer and also playback for Walkman and other audio products.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
List of products
[edit]See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:Sony Walkman Template:Sony Corp Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- Walkman
- 1980s fads and trends
- 1990s fads and trends
- Audio players
- Brands that became generic
- Consumer electronics brands
- Japanese inventions
- Models of radios
- Portable media players
- Products and services discontinued in 2010
- Products introduced in 1979
- Sony Ericsson mobile phones
- Sony products
- Collection of the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)