Sony struggling as Walkman hits 30th anniversary

(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Sony Corp.'s employee Rumi Yamaguchi smiles in front of a special display commemorating the Sony Walkman's 30th anniversary that opens Wednesday, July 1, 2009, at Sony Archive building in Tokyo, Japan. The first portable cassette-tape player Walkman, shown second from left on the top shelf, hit the Japanese market on July 1, 1979.

The archival exhibit shows other Sony products that have been discontinued or lost out to competition over the years _ the Betamax video cassette recorder, the Trinitron TV, the Aibo dog-shaped robotic pet.

The Walkman exhibit, which runs through Dec. 25, shows models that are still on sale, some about the size of a lighter that play digital music files.

Also showcased are messages from Morita and his partner Masaru Ibuka, who always insisted a company could never hope to be a winner by imitating rivals but only by dashing stereotypes.

"All we can do is keep going at it, selling our Walkman, one at a time," said Sony spokeswoman Yuki Kobayashi. "Thirty years is a milestone for Sony. But we hope the Walkman won't be seen as just a piece of history."

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Sony's history: http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/