It might have been a good few years since you've played a VHS video, but it's official - VHS is now a dead format.
Funai Electric, the sole remaining Japanese company to produce VCR units, has announced that it is to cease production of their VCR units from the end of this month. Funai Electric created VCRs for the likes of Sanyo and confirmed that it will no longer produce the units as there has been both declining sales and more difficulty in procuring parts for them.
Shocker, we know.
Believe it or not, Funai Electric reported that it sold over 750,000 VCR units last year - which is amazing, when you think about it. The last major film to be distributed on VHS in the States was 2007's Eragon, starring John Malkovich and Jeremy Irons. Only this March, however, saw the end of its production of Betamax tapes.
VHS tapes, however, continue to see some small amount of production, if only for novelty value. Horror anthology film V/H/S/2 was given a small VHS run to tie in with both its title and its grindhouse, video-nasty image. A small production studio in the US continues to make small VHS releases and, even more oddly, there's still some video stores around the US still open.
Via AnimeNewsNetwork
