October 1, 2009
Screw You, iPod, Says Sony’s Walkman
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 I dunno about you, but I really miss the good old days of portable cassette players: Walkmen, as the entire world called them. And so, it seems, does Japan—at least in name, that is—after summer sales figures showed the Sony brand delivering a mild thrashing to upstarts like […]
By Metropolis
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009
I dunno about you, but I really miss the good old days of portable cassette players: Walkmen, as the entire world called them. And so, it seems, does Japan—at least in name, that is—after summer sales figures showed the Sony brand delivering a mild thrashing to upstarts like Apple.
Data for the end of August show the combined Walkman models snaring 43 percent of the market here, knocking the iPod lineup into second place at 42.1 percent. It might not sound like much, but it beats having sand kicked in your face day in, day out for four years.
On the downside, however, the numbers from analyst BCN exclude sales of what really is the market-leading audio player—the 800lb gorilla called the iPhone. Ah…