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Subject: Japan’s Funai Electric, which claims to be the world’s last VCR manufacturer, says it will cease production of the machines this month
Excerpt: English text from the archived bilingual edition · Chinese edition
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Japan’s Funai Electric, which claims to be the world’s last VCR manufacturer, says it will cease production of the machines this month
Funai started manufacturing video-cassette recorders in 1983, and at one point was selling 15 million units a year. Alas, the clunky VCR has since been replaced by an array of new technologies: DVDs, Blu-ray, and now, streaming video services
Last year, Funai sold 750,000 units, and found it was getting harder to find the parts to make VCRs
A Funai spokesperson said that customers have been to the company and asking where they can find the last few products
VCRs for home use were introduced in the 1960s, gaining traction after Sony brought lower-priced models to market. Other Japanese manufacturers, including Panasonic, RCA, JVC and Toshiba, were also instrumental in developing the VCR
The electromechanical device records, stores, and plays back television programs using a magnetic tape cassette
For a time, a battle ensued between Sony’s Betamax and JVC’s VHS -- both VCR tape formats -- but VHS eventually won out
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