Sony announced that it would stop producing the Walkman, citing dwindling sales as the main reason for discontinuing the obsolete music player.

The company said that it produced its last shipment of the device in Japan last April. A New York Post report said that some production of the portable music player will continue through a Chinese company.

Sony introduced the Walkman in 1979. The music player reached the peak of its popularity during the '80s, as it provided the precursor to modern MP3 players. It replaced record players as the main mode of listening to music, only to be similarly replaced by portable CD players and later on, MP3 players. In the company's 30 years of production for the Walkman, it sold more than 220 million units worldwide.

Sony will continue the Walkman brand for its other products. The company released its Walkman NWZ-E350 line of video MP3 players last August. In addition, Sony has also launched a range of Walkman phones.

Sony added that it would not discontinue production of CD and mini-disc players. The company announced that it would stop selling floppy disks last April.