Japan’s Funai Electric, which claims to be the world’s last VCR manufacturer in the world, says it will cease production of the machines later this month.
Funai started manufacturing video-cassette recorders in 1983, and at one point was selling 15 million units a year. Even though the VCR was essentially replaced years ago by DVDs, Blu-ray, and now, streaming video service, Funai Electric has continued to manufacture the clunky machines under brands such as Sanyo. In fact, Funai sold as many as 750,000 units last year.
That’s probably 750,000 more than you’d think they sold.
Regardless the numbers continue to shrink and it is becoming harder to find the parts to make VCRs so the company has decided that they will finally end production later this month.
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.
According to Japanese financial paper Nikkei customers have already started asking Funai Electric where they can find the last few products.
R.I.P., VCR.
