Long goodbye to the VCR

There's still life left in the old video cassette recorder, despite the rise of the DVD.

This week, Britain's biggest electronics retailer, Dixons, announced plans to stop selling VCRs before Christmas.

But New Zealanders need not rush to copy their favourite tapes on to more up-to-date media - not yet anyhow.

"The trend will probably get there eventually, but I don't see them disappearing out of the market immediately," said Ted Gibbons, editor of the New Zealand technology publication Tone Magazine.

"In terms of market penetration and the maturity of the market, the UK is a bit ahead of us."

Dick Smith Electronics is not about to eject VCRs from its shelves - "not at all", said James Cunnold, the retail chain's merchandise manager. "[VCRs] still sell well."

After several years on the market, DVDs have fallen significantly in price, making them more competitive with the long-established VCR.

Most VCRs on Dick Smith's website sell for between $100 and $250, comparable to the price for a DVD player. And models of both types of machines are available for less than $100.

But DVD players can't record in the same way as VCRs can. For that, you need a DVD Recorder, which costs at least $350.

"When [DVD Recorders] come down in price, that's when people will switch to them and stop buying VCRs," said Mr Cunnold.

Some people were avoiding making the transition because they could not watch their video tapes on a DVD player, said Simone Iles, general manager of sales and marketing for Noel Leeming.

The electronics retailer has no plans to stop selling VCRs but Ms Iles expects sales to start to fall rapidly by the end of next year.

"[The VCR] is certainly a waning category, but it's by no means dead," she said, adding that the New Zealand market was about a year behind the overseas market.

Nearly three-quarters of New Zealanders older than 10, or 2.5 million people, have a VCR in their home, according to figures from the ACNielsen research company. About 35 per cent, or 1.2 million people, have a DVD player.

DVD players and recorders are rapidly gaining speed worldwide. Philips, the company that developed the VCR in the 1970s, stopped selling them in February, presumably to push its DVD machines instead.

And in Britain, Dixons said its sales of DVD players outnumbered VCRs by a ratio of 40 to 1.

"We're saying goodbye today to one of the most important products in the history of consumer technology," said John Mewett, Dixons' marketing director. "We are now entering the digital age."

Consumers Institute chief executive David Russell said that while it might not be happening in New Zealand yet, the VCR was sure to be edged out.