Japan's Sony Corp. said on Wednesday it would end domestic output of its Walkman portable audio players by the end of March.

The inventor of the Walkman cassette player more than a quarter-century ago has been shifting production of the players to Malaysia and China over the past 10 years.

The move is part of a restructuring plan, announced in September, to cut the number of manufacturing bases worldwide by 11 to 54, a spokeswoman said.

Sony will cease Walkman production at its plant in Saitama prefecture north of Tokyo. About 200 jobs will be cut, but the facility will continue to be used as a product design centre, she said.

Shares in Sony were up 0.6 percent at 5,020 yen in early morning trade. The Nikkei average was up 0.45 percent.

Reuters