They were the IPhones of the time. More expensive, more fashionable, perceived higher quality, and had innovative features such as auto reverse. The average cassette player was the generic Android in comparison.
Those tiny Aiwas that eventually miniaturized to hardly bigger than a cassette case were a very successful challenger brand in my circles, to the point that Sony brand walkmen practically ceased to exist. It was either an Aiwa or a cheap noname during those last years before everything switched to digital.
But the brand went through that surprisingly unscathed, they might have dropped the ball on late generation cassette innovation, but after the switch to organise CD the Sony brand discman was again perceived as solidly recommendable.
