Wal-Mart Signals The End Of The VCR: Will Stop Selling VHS Movies
from the death-knell dept
Only two years after DVD rentals surpassed VHS rentals and various DVD player manufacturers and retailers all left the business, the ultimate sign of the end of the VHS as a format for pre-recorded movies was sounded today when Wal-Mart announced that it was phasing out sales of pre-recorded VHS tapes. It will continue through the 2005 holiday season, but after that it's all DVDs all the time. Competitors Best Buy and Circuit City bailed out of the VHS selling business a while back, and Target just announced similar plans -- but Wal-Mart's overall domination of the retail market means that pre-recorded VHS isn't dead until Wal-Mart says it's dead, and apparently, it's now dead. Update: On second thought, the reports on the death of the VCR may have been greatly exaggerated. Wal-Mart is now denying this report.
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It only makes sense, since even the "techno-phobes" I know switched to DVD a few years ago.
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Wal-Mart: Hey, we're still selling VHS No. 1 retailer denies a published report that it will exit the VHS business by early next year.
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I'll continue to use VHS tapes until there are simple, DRM-free DVD recorders that retail for under $100.00. So will most of the general public.
I can completely understand the market for VHS new movie releases going away; DVD players have inexpensively filled that need. But nothing has yet replaced the VHS's niche as a recordable media.
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I will be phaseing out my vcr before the end of the year. Right now I'm converting all my VHS tapes in which I recorded myself from many years ago in which tomorrow will be the last day I'll be converting my VHS tapes so after tomorrow I will be smashing my VCR and the remote that goes with it.
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