2/10/2024 0 Comments Cheap transistor radiosThis steady expansion into the export market owed a great deal to Morita's August 1957 trip to the US, when he concluded a long-term agreement with Agrod Co. The November 16 Asahi Shimbun carried the following report: It was such a success that regular shipments could not keep up with year's-end demand, and a JAL plane had to be chartered to air-freight a large consignment. One other unforgettable aspect of the TR-63 was that it was the first transistor radio model to be exported. So intense was popular interest in the new pocketable radio that 50 of them were issued as "the first TR-63 off the line." Logically, of course, there can only be one "first off the line," but because Totsuko's fans were so enthusiastic to own "the first off the line" 50 of them ended up being supplied. He had shirts custom-made for his salesmen featuring a slightly larger pocket. The catch phrase would have lost its punch - except for a little ruse on Morita's part. Unfortunately though, the TR-63 was just barely larger than the pocket on a typical businessman's dress shirt. We now use it without a second thought, but who would ever guess that it originated as a Japanese-English term invented by Totsuko when it launched the TR-63? ![]() Today the word "pocketable" appears in English dictionaries. It seems that when the TR-63 came out, radios small enough to be slipped into a pocket were known in the US as "pocket" radios. The selling price of 13,800 yen equalled the monthly paycheck of the avarage Japanese salary earner. The TR-63 also consumed less than half the power. Compared to the 127x76x33mm dimensions of the TR-1 and its four transistors, the TR-63 measured 112x71x32mm and used six transistors for better recetion and output. It measured up favorably against the Regency TR-1 model, which had beaten Totsuko's transistor radio to become the world's first and, until the TR-63, had been the world's smallest. This was to be the world's smallest transistor radio, the TR-63 pocketable radio. Totsuko had another revolutionary product concept up its sleeve, one that would surely capture the public's imagination. As a result, Totsuko received orders through NHK from 200 schools all over the country. ![]() The TR-81, brought out at the end of 1956, was chosen by NHK for use by schools in remote areas. Around this time, Totsuko added a number of new models to its range of transistor radios.
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