Sony to Stop Producing the Walkman

Time to retire those tapes. Sony has said that it's stopping production of the Walkman, due to lackluster sales of the outdated music player.

According to the company, the last round of the portable cassette player was produced in Japan in April, and once that batch sells out, the Walkman is history.

Some production will continue via a Chinese company for the few people who still rock out with the obsolete technology, a New York Post report said. However, its days are likely numbered.

Sony started producing the Walkman in 1979. The Walkman might have had a slow start, but by the 80s, it was the go-to portable stereo. Although the MP3 players are now the standard for portable music players, the Walkman was one of the first of these types of devices, selling 220 million worldwide in more than 30 years of production.

Before the Walkman, record players were the de facto choice for music players. But the Walkman was supplanted by portable CD players, which were replaced by MP3 players. Coincidentally, Sunday is also the iPod's ninth birthday, another iconic music player.

:story: Full story: PC Magazine