It’s been almost two decades since the DVD arrived, sparking the long, slow decline of video cassette tapes. But the tape era is about to come to a final close.
The last maker of VHS-compatible video cassette recorders, Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric, says its going to stop producing the devices at the end of the month due to declining sales . Worldwide sales of the device have dropped to 750 thousand last year compared to 15 million at the beginning of the century
In addition to producing VCRs it sold under its own brand, Funai Electric also produced them for other companies like SANYO, primarily in the US
The video cassette recorder burst onto the scene in the mid-1970s, sparking a major standards battle between Sony’s higher fidelity Betamax format and the lower quality but cheaper Video Home System, or VHS, format developed by JVC. The war raged for several years, as each side tried to convince consumers and Hollywood to favor its format, but by 1980, VHS had captured 80% of the market. Analysis of the battle, and why Sony lost, formed the basis of innumerable business school articles and remains a frequently cited lesson whenever a market has competing technological standards. But Sony stopped producing Betamax cassette tapes only in 2016.
It's been a good 44 years since the first N1500 VCR was introduced by Philips. The VCR system was easy to use and recorded in colour but was still expensive: when it was introduced in 1972 the N1500 recorder cost nearly UK £600 (equivalent to £3,400 in 2016). By comparison, a small car (the Morris Mini) could be purchased for just over £600.
By the 1980s, the VCR was catching on with ordinary Americans. In June 1984, The New York Times wrote that analysts expected 15 million homes to have the machines by the end of the year, up from five million in 1982.
A consumer guide published in The Times in 1981 — when the machines ranged in price from $600 to $1,200 — explained the appeal:“In effect, a VCR makes you independent of television schedules. It lets you create your own prime time. You set the timer and let the machine automatically record the programs you want to watch but can’t. Later, you can play the tape at your convenience. Or you can tape one show while watching another, thus missing neither.”
VCRs ruled the '80s and '90s, but will rule no more.