OSAKA, Japan — Panasonic has decided to halt domestic production of its VCR, in what is becoming a regular occurrence for Japanese electronics firms to stop selling outdated products.

Like the Walkman before it and the minidisc player, the VCR seems like an iconic relic in an age when movies are streamed over the internet and recording content on tapes or discs are about as outdated as fax machines.

But Panasonic said it stopped producing VCRs for the domestic market only at the end of last year. Once they run out of inventory, it will stop sales of VCRs in Japan entirely, the company was quoted as saying Monday.

Panasonic, however, still manufactures VCRs at factories in China and Slovakia. A spokesman said Panasonic will continue selling VCRs abroad based on market conditions.

Panasonic started selling VHS-tape VCRs in Japan in 1977 — one of the first Japanese manufacturers to introduce the product.

The first VHS-tape VCR was introduced by the Victor Company of Japan, a majority-owned subsidiary of Panasonic that has since merged with audiomaker Kenwood to form JVC Kenwood Holdings. A JVC Kenwood spokesman said the company stopped in-house production of VCRs in 2006 and it has since stopped selling VCRs entirely.

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, the VCR was a must-have home electronics appliance after a format-war between VHS and Sony’s Betamax swung in favor of the VHS tapes. Moreover, it helped to create a new, lucrative business for movie studios and opened the door for an industry of video-rental shops.

Panasonic declined to disclose its VCR sales. However, in a sign of the VCR’s diminished stature, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association does not even track domestic shipments, while it does keep data on similarly outdated offerings such as “car cassette stereos.”

While DVDs replaced VHS tapes as the video media of choice in the early 2000s, VHS tapes still clutter many a home across the world.

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