Just Lurking

Wal-Mart to stop selling VHS

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, plans to follow the lead of other big electronics sellers and exit the VHS business by early 2006, according to a report Sunday.

VHS tapes will still be available through the 2005 holiday season, but will disappear from Wal-Mart shelves sometime soon after February, said the Hollywood Reporter, citing industry sources familiar with the matter.

Wal-Mart representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

The move comes after an announcement from Target that it will phase out VHS sales by September. Best Buy and Circuit City no longer sell VHS tapes, according to the report.

The article said Wal-Mart's plans are another nail in the coffin for VHS tapes as stores seek to free up space for popular DVDs.

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If they would sell only proper OAR, they would on the right path.

I thought they would hold on for at least another year with VHS sells.

The Bus

Veee... Eitch.... Esss???

critterdvd

I will admit this is happening faster than I expected, but it is still weird to think that one will not be able to buy VHS's anymore.

DeanoBKN

Surprising. Every time I shop there I always see the VHS racks being browsed at. Considering most movies are about $5-10, people seem to buy em.

Now if only they would get rid of FS...

Altimus Prime

I remember when VHS wasn't just everything, it was the only thing. But then, I also remember the same thing about a little forgotten company called "Atari."

It's kinda sad to think VHS will pass away without a wimper, or even a tear shed at a proper funeral.

I was a late comer to DVD. I kept thinking VHS was good enough. But once I got that first player in 2003, and that first DVD, I knew I'd never go back. Its passing was inevitable, but it's still sad it won't be missed or mourned.

DVD Polizei

Broadcasters and professionals still use tape.

PatrickMcCart

Blank tapes omitted, I purchased my last VHS tapes in 2001. A handful of $1 public domain cartoon tapes.

VHS was a good interm format, but it has served its purpose.

NitroJMS

But not VHS. They use higher grade production tapes, and alot of them are switching to digital formats now that HD production is becoming more prevalent.

I guess VHS will only be sold by niche/speciality retailers like Blockbuster, Suncoast, online stores, etc. from now on, until they are completely phased out. I'm really surprised Walmart is phasing out VHS entirely and not maintaining even a small section from now on. From working at Circuit City, I know there's still customers that come in regularly for VHS and we haven't carried it in 3 years so there's still a small market out there for it, especially for kids and family movies, plus alot of older women wanted Phantom of the Opera on VHS.

scottall

No, they would lose sales of MAR. They are ordering them for a reason.

mndtrp

How quickly did places start phasing out cassette tapes? It is comparable to the path VHS is taking?

BigDan

It seems to me like the VHS phase out is going a little faster. It looks like VHS will just about disappear just about ten years after DVDs were introduced.

CDs were introduced in 1980, and cassettes were still widely available at least into the late 1990s (since I didn't get a CD player in my car until 2002, I was still buying cassettes as late as 2000/2001, and I had no trouble finding them at many retailers).

CertifiedTHX

Does this news apply to both prerecorded and blank tapes?

--THX

scottall

BigDan

What can I say? I fear change.

marty888

I would imagine that blank tapes will hang in there a bit longer than prerecorded stuff. First off all, it wouldn't take very much space to keep them on hand, and secondly it wouldn't be very costly to keep a very modest supply in stock.

Of course, as more and more people get Tivo and DVR devices, even blank tapes become an dated curiosity ...

SPiRAL

compulsive dvd

Broadcasters use digital betacam mostly for broadcast of standard definition, but Beta SP is still the most common format to send to tv affiliates and to shows with clips. It's still annoying to have to rewind and fast forward. The machines are pretty fast, but it's not like you can just punch up a number and you're there immediately. VHS is still the best for dubs for people because you can make several at a time. It's not yet common to have a dub rack full of DVD recorders. The technology isn't there to have them done that quickly quite yet because they all have to be finalized to work in other machines. As far as retail, it's amazing that dvd has completely taken over. The production costs have to be way cheaper though. Blank tapes never really went down in price like blank dvds have. I always thought decent blank audio tapes were way too expensive. The sound is great if you have a decent deck and good tape, but who wants to rewind?

Cameron

i won't even buy them for a buck anymore...last tape i bought was a WS copy of hard boiled....it was like 3 bucks

Alan Smithee

They really ought to keep VHS around for the people who want pan & scan. I have to wonder if they're really basing this on the market as well, since I started my current job in 2001 several customers were still buying VHS tapes, and now they get upset when I have to tell them they're not available anymore.
Laserdisc was better than VHS though, lots of people say Beta was too but I've got both and can't tell the difference.
BTW the first CDs came out in 1982, I didn't see one in a store til 1983. Cassettes have pretty much been phased out right now too, though some people still ask for them. I don't know what brought about the decline of cassettes, but around 1990 LPs were phased out because the labels stopped taking returns from retailers on them. Yes, they now do some new releases on LP but they're limited, and usually priced as much or more than the CD.

ianholm

Sheesh, I didn't even notice Best Buy had stopped selling VHS.

chrisih8u

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart Stores will continue to sell VHS tapes for as long as its customers want them, a spokeswoman for the world's largest retailer told CNN/Money.

"While it's true that there is stronger growth in demand for DVDs, many of our customers have VHS recorders and therefore still want VHS tapes," said Karen Burk, spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. "We will continue to sell the VHS tapes as long as there is a demand from our customers."

Burk categorically denied a Sunday report in the Hollywood Reporter that cited industry sources as saying that the discount behemoth planned to follow the lead of other big electronics sellers and exit the VHS business by early 2006.

According to the article, sources said VHS tapes will still be available through the 2005 holiday season but would disappear from Wal-Mart (Research) shelves soon after February.

The publication said in the report it was unable to confirm the matter with Wal-Mart.

The story said Wal-Mart rival Target (Research) had announced that it will phase out VHS sales by September, while electronics retailers Best Buy (Research) and Circuit City (Research) said they will no longer sell VHS tapes

calhoun07

Actually, CDs started back in the 70's, but didn't become a mass produced product until the 80's. If you really want to get technical, the history of the CD can be traced back to the mid 1800's, when the concepts of storing data were first tested and George Poole wrote a book called "An Investigation Into the Laws of Thought." It is this book that contained theories that were used to build the first digital circuits.

The fact that Wal Mart still is, and looks like still will, offer VHS is the only reason the format is still alive. If it wasn't for them, it would have died a lot sooner.

Class316

link: http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/14/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

djtoell

The standard digital audio CD was introduced to the market in the US in 1983, a year after their introduction in Japan and Europe. Precursors that hit the market (e.g., laserdiscs) were analog.

Yeah, and if you want to go back far enough, the invention of the wheel led to everything else. Either way, CDs only hit the market in this country in 1983.

DJ

dvd_luver

So this means that they won't be getting anymore Howard The Duck VHS copys in? Well, VHS as crappy as it is they should still carry a few tapes for people that still think VHS is the best.