What VHS couldn"t do, digital did. Sony"s Betamax video tape recorder, which famously lost the 1980s video format war but held on for decades as a niche product, will finally be laid to rest after digital formats delivered a death blow to its prospects.
Sony said on Tuesday it would only make 2,000 more Betamax machines before discontinuing the product altogether, ending its 27-year history--spent mostly in the shadow of the Matsushita group"s rival VHS format.
Rapid sales growth in digital versatile disc (DVD) players and recorders has posed a threat in recent years not just to the remnants of Betamax but to the mainstream VHS videotape recorders pioneered by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, maker of Panasonic goods, and Victor Co of Japan, a subsidiary.