( Mashable ) -- After retiring the floppy disk in March , Sony has halted the manufacture and distribution of another now-obsolete technology : the cassette Walkman , the first low-cost , portable music player . The final batch was shipped to Japanese retailers in April , according to IT Media . Once these units are sold , new cassette Walkmans will no longer be available through the manufacturer . The first generation Walkman ( which was called the Soundabout in the U.S. , and the Stowaway in the UK ) was released on July 1 , 1979 in Japan . Although it later became a huge success , it only sold 3,000 units in its first month . Sony managed to sell some 200 million iterations of the cassette Walkman over the product line 's 30-year career . Mashable.com : Sony retires the floppy disk . Somewhat ironically , the announcement was delivered just one day ahead of the iPod 's ninth anniversary on October 23 , although the decline of the cassette Walkman is attributed primarily to the explosive popularity of CD players in the '90s , not the iPod . © 2013 MASHABLE.com . All rights reserved .
The cassette Walkman was the first low-cost , portable music player . Final batch was shipped to Japanese retailers in ninth anniversary . first generation Walkman was released on April in Japan . Announcement delivered just April of the Sony 's ninth anniversary .