Sony celebrates Walkman's 40th anniversary with exhibit on iconic audio player
Sony Corp. celebrated 40 years of its iconic Walkman with an interactive exhibition and commemoration movie on Monday.
The pop-up exhibit in Tokyo's Ginza district is called "#009 Walkman in the Park," and features the company's more than 230 models of the personal audio player displayed on a "Walkman Wall."
Another section of the exhibition is titled "My Story, My Walkman," and features songs picked out by a celebrity for each year of the music device's history. Visitors can listen to the music on a Walkman released in the corresponding year.
"Walkman is the strongest representative of the company, and the products have shaped the unique, creative and innovative Sony brand," Daisuke Nagano, president of Sony Enterprise, said during a preview of the exhibit, according to the Japan Times.
"Customers’ memories generated through our Walkman product are what we should always keep in mind regardless of how the company proceeds to survive in this highly competitive business field with the presence of free music apps out there."
More than 400 million Walkman units have been sold globally since its debut.
The very first Walkman, model TPS-L2, was released in 1979 for a retail price of $150 and played cassettes.
The first model of the first-generation Walkman was released in 1979 and came with so-called "H-AIR" series headphones. (Sony)
"Contrary to those inside and outside the company who claimed that "without a recording function, it won't sell," it became a huge success, proposing new lifestyles which became popular around the world," the Japanese electronics company said on its website. The first model also included a pair of lightweight "H-AIR" series headphones.
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The second generation model of the device, called the "Walkman II," was released three years later with an emphasis on "design and sound quality."
The gold Sony Walkman Signature Series model NW-WM1Z was released in 2016 and featured a color video display. (Sony)
Sony debuted its first portable CD player in 1984, and released a special 15th anniversary CD Walkman in 1999, which featured anti-skip technology. Also in 1999, Sony introduced the Memory Stick Walkman, which played digital music.
In 2009, they unveiled their X-series Walkman which touted a video screen.
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