The Sony Walkman was invented in 1979 by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita of the Sony Corporation.
The product line's history began with the first cassette Walkman TPS-L2 that changed the way consumers listen to music.
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The prototype was built in 1978 by audio-division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent trans-Pacific plane trips.[1] The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan and, from 1980, the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK
Made in 1978 by Nobutoshi Kihara for a Sony executive who wanted to listen to operas while he was in flight.
The first prototype of the Sony Walkman was released in 1978. The next year, Walkman's were released in Japan and became very popular. In 1980, they were released in the United States.