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Japan's Last VHS Video Tape Recorder Maker Ends Production This Month
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei reported on Thursday that Funai Electric Company, Japan's last manufacturer of VHS video cassette tape recorders, will end production on the recorders this month. According to Nikkei, the company is halting production due to a declining market, and difficulty in obtaining the supply of parts. Funai had manufactured the units in factories in China, and sold units under the Sanyo brand, among others, in North America.
Nikkei reported sales of 750,000 VHS units for Funai last year.
Sony stopped shipping tapes of the VHS' rival Betamax format last year, and had already stopped producing Betamax video cassette tape recorders in 2002. JVC developed the VHS format, and Sony developed Betamax; the two formats vied for market share during the 1980s and 1990s, the peak of both formats.
Source: Nikkei via Hachima Kikō
