Betamax bites the dust

More than 27 years after it became a byword for out-marketed technology, Betamax has finally bitten the dust.

The video tape recorders, which lost the 1980s video format war but held on for decades as a niche product, has finally been outclassed by digital formats.

Sony has announced that it will only make a further 2,000 Betamax machines before discontinuing the product altogether.

The company explained that, with digital machines and new recording formats, demand for Betamax had collapsed and that it was becoming difficult to find parts.

Sony pulled sales from countries outside Japan during the 1990s, and sold just 2,800 units last year.

The electronics giant said that it would continue to offer repairs and video cassettes for the format, and insisted that the move would not affect its Betacam products for the broadcasting industry.