Sony Launches the Walkman

On July 1, 1979, Sony launched the TPS-L2 in Japan, introducing a compact stereo cassette player that let people listen to their own tapes on the move. Priced at approximately thirty-three thousand yen, or about one hundred and fifty dollars, the blue and silver metal device originated from a personal request by company co-founder Masaru Ibuka. Ibuka, who regularly traveled with the bulky TC-D5 cassette recorder, asked Norio Ohga, then a deputy president of Sony, to produce a lightweight, playback-only machine designed specifically for listening while walking. Sony engineers adapted their Pressman journalist recorder, removing the recording circuitry and external speakers to create a dedicated personal stereo designed for lightweight headphones.

Initial internal expectations were cautious, with Sony projecting monthly sales of roughly five thousand units. Instead, the company sold more than thirty thousand units during the first two months. To promote the device in Japan, Sony hired actors to pose with the player and enlisted young adults to stroll through the streets of Tokyo offering demonstrations to pedestrians. Overseas distributors initially hesitated over the non-standard English name, resulting in early regional variants such as the Sound-about in the United States, the Freestyle in Australia and Sweden, and the Stowaway in the United Kingdom. The player reached American stores in June 1980 under the Soundabout name, and Sony later adopted the Walkman name across its global markets.