Panasonic Stops Making Set-Tops… and (Some) VCRs

Panasonic announced a few weeks ago it was getting out of the US set-top biz, something it pursued briefly in retail, but far longer through cable operator channels. That headline wasn’t terribly surprising, but today’s company news is a little different. According to The Wall Street Journal, Panasonic has also stopped manufacturing VCRs in its home country of Japan. Yes, VCRs. You know those old machines that your mother still hopes you’ll use to copy her VHS tapes over to a new medium? Panasonic is selling out its inventory in Japan, and then VCR sales there will be no more.

As a corollary to the Japanese news, The Wall Street Journal does point out that Panasonic will continue to manufacture VCRs in China and Slovakia. That’s likely because there continues to be a market among consumers who still cling to their VHS collections. Reporter Daisuke Wakabayashi characterizes the generational VCR divide this way:

If you had trouble programming it, you are probably a baby boomer or older.

If you know the cure for the fuzzy picture — pop the tape out; depress the small button on the side; pull back the lid and blow air ever-so gently onto the black strip to dislodge dust and other particles – you are probably a Generation X baby.

One final note: It’s staggering to watch how quickly DVD players are following VCRs down the path of obscurity. The Digital Entertainment Group reported last month that DVD sales dropped 20% in 2011 to $6.8 billion. Blu-ray disc sales fared better, up 19% last year, cresting $2 billion in sales.

11 thoughts on “Panasonic Stops Making Set-Tops… and (Some) VCRs”

  1. “Panasonic has also stopped manufacturing VCRs in its home country of Japan … Panasonic will continue to manufacture VCRs in China and Slovakia.”

    It’s just outsourcing for cheaper labor.

    Given that the widespread rumors are that AllVid will rely on a VCR gateway to avoid digital piracy, Panasonic has to keep its capabilities at the ready for the big transition. The only holdup is that Apple is lobbying for a Betamax gateway.

    (While I find the AllVid / VCR rumors to be perfectly believable, I find the widespread rumors that the FCC is planning to solve OTA problems by setting up VCR canons to projectile bomb homes with VCR cassettes as the “new improved OTA” to be less credible.)

  2. “I heard AllVid was going the laser disc route.”

    I’ve heard that rumor too. But I dismissed it since it seems incompatible with keeping the same standard for using with projectile bombing as the “new improved OTA”.

    Injuries from high speed incoming cassettes are likely to be minor, but injuries from high speed incoming sharp, spinning laserdiscs would be catastrophic.

  3. I’m fascinated that DVDs still outsell Blu-ray discs. Although I wonder how they count the combo packs (where a DVD and Blu-ray disc are included in one package).

  4. When they say that they’re stopping making VCRs, does that include the combo VCR/DVD recorder products that are mostly what they sell now? Not that they sell a lot of those either…

    And hey Dave, while Cisco and Motorola/Google-to-be have a good chunk of the STB business that didn’t stop Pace from coming in with lowball pricing and stealing away a lot of the business. The problem is that Panasonic doesn’t like the margins they’d have to live with the do the same…

  5. I never saw Panasonic set top boxes in real life. I did see some guy post pics on AVSForum of some super elite Panasonic Tru2Way DVR in a warehouse. It was meant for Comcast to pick up but I guess they never did.

    I’ve seen a few different providers – not one Panasonic set top. I’ve seen Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, Pace and Pioneer.

  6. Yeah Dave that is the Comcast Panasonic box I saw some guy post on AVSForums. He was in a warehouse though there were boxes with many of those units. Never saw them in action. I guess the Tru2Way software they used in the Pansonic set tops like the Pansonic TV was too buggy or something? Figures because it looked a little nicer than the software they run now.

  7. panasonic used to make the best vcrs.great features and super fast.what a shame.just found out today.

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