Philips is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Compact Cassette, which the company introduced in Europe on August 30th, 1963 at the Berlin Radio Show.
Although there were other magnetic tape cartridge systems, Philips’ Compact Cassette became dominant as a result of Philips’ decision in the face of pressure from Sony to license the format free of charge.
Philips also released the Norelco Carry-Corder 150 recorder/player in the U.S. in November 1964. By 1966 over 250,000 recorders had been sold in the US alone and Japan soon became the major source of recorders. By 1968, 85 manufacturers had sold over 2.4 million players.
