If you want to buy a new VCR (for whatever reason), I’ve got some bad news for you – you’ve got about a week and a half before the last company on the planet that produces VCRs is getting out of the game.
Funai Electric, a Japanese electronics company, has been producing VCRs since 1983, and their sales peaked at 15 million per year, which makes sense in the late-80s and early-90s. But last year, sales of VCRs fell to just 750,000, which is still a huge number given that the VCR is an antiquated technology that hasn’t been the industry standard for years now.
Ars Technica talked about Funai’s exit from the market, the reasoning for their decision, and its history with VCRs.
Declining sales, plus a difficulty in obtaining the necessary parts, prompted Funai Electric to cease production. While the Funai brand might not be well-known in the west, the company sold VCRs under the more familiar Sanyo brand in China and North America.
Funai Electric began production of VCRs in 1983 following the unsuccessful launch of its own CVC format in 1980. While CVC had its strengths—its quarter-inch tape made its machines smaller and lighter than VHS machines, which used half-inch tape—VHS and Betamax were strong competitors.
Here’s a fun, sad fact – when I moved a couple of years ago, I brought along my VCR *and* my DVD recorder. I didn’t plug either in once, and eventually trashed both of them. I still have a horde of old VHS tapes though – maybe it’s time for them to take up residence in the dumpster.
However, if you’re like me and have some old VHS cassettes, eBay could be a destination – some people still prefer VHS tapes, though mainly just older horror films according to this article from The Independent earlier this year. What, you mean my old TaeBo tapes won’t be able to cover a car payment?!
Here lies the VCR. It had a good run, but it was time. Hell, it was probably time ten years ago.
