Ten Facts About Transistor Radios

Posted on January 20, 2008
Filed Under Music Players, Ten Facts About... |

Transistor radios were once the hottest thing. From their debut as one of the new “high tech” devices to their eventual evolution into being the common man’s entertainment unit, they’ve had a large impact on the entire world. So, here are…

Ten Facts About Transistor Radios

• The first transistor radio on the market was sold in 1954 by IDEA’s Regency division and called the Regency TR-1.

• Though sold by Regency, the first transistor radio was manufactured and designed by Texas Instruments.

• For the bulk of the time in it’s most popular era, transistor radios were designed to only receive AM radio signals.

• The first transistor radio (the Regency TR-1) was sold at a price of $49.95, which would be over $300 in today’s dollars.

• Sony was not only the first company to handle the complete manufacture of transistor radios themselves; they were also the first to use all miniature parts.

• The 9-Volt battery was developed specifically to be used in the transistor radio, some place still refer to this battery as the transistor battery.

• Called the most popular communication device of all time, most estimates claim that there are over seven billion transistor radios in existence.

• Before transistor radios came along, the portable radio was quite heavy and was about the size of a lunch box.

• The first known transistor radio was made by a German company called Intermetall and was on display at the 1952 Dusseldorf Radio Fair.

• The Sony TR-610 was released in the mid to late 1960’s and was the first transistor radio to sell more than 500,000 units.

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