Buzz
The last Japanese manufacturer of VHS cassette players will soon halt production. Image: Kazuhiro Nogia/AFP/Getty Images; Video: TimeWho even watches videotapes anymore? With the rise of streaming services offering ever-higher-definition content accessible anytime and anywhere, it's safe to say that not many people are still hauling around a collection of VHS tapes and their bulky players. The transition to modern ways of watching TV and movies has left videocassette recorders (VCRs) on the brink of extinction, and by the end of July, the last company making these old-school players will roll out its final batch from the assembly line.
A pile of outdated electronics waits for disassembly, recycling, and disposal.
Zoran Milich/Getty ImagesFunai Electric states that its VCRs became too costly to produce as sourcing parts for the machines became increasingly challenging. Nevertheless, the company still managed to produce 750,000 analog tape players last year. (Mathematically, that's about 749,999 more than most people would have predicted.) While the majority of viewers have switched to other media for watching shows and movies, a dedicated community of VHS enthusiasts continues to thrive worldwide.
Funai's choice is unlikely to sit well with VHS loyalists, whose fondness for analog tapes is reminiscent of the recent revival of vinyl records. Some rare tapes—particularly those never released in other formats—are fetching high prices in the trading market. The end of Funai's VCR production could spark a similar demand for functioning old VCRs and attract tech enthusiasts willing to repair broken ones.
If you're searching for another niche video format to explore, you could consider the digital video disc (DVD) market. New releases of movies and TV shows are still available on DVD, Netflix continues to mail them to subscribers, and you can still find them in stores like Target or Best Buy. However, DVDs can't be played on most modern phones, tablets, or laptops. This likely means that the platform that replaced VHS, and even its successor Blu-ray, will soon join VHS in obsolescence.
Funai Electric, the last remaining VCR manufacturer, cited a sharp decline in demand and difficulty in obtaining parts as the primary reasons for halting production of the once-popular device.
Kazuhiro Nogia/AFP/Getty ImagesThe world’s first video tape recorder and player – the Ampex VRX-100 – was an enormous, bulky device, with a size and a hefty $50,000 price tag that made it mostly accessible only to television networks and stations when it was introduced in 1956.
