what companys still make cassette and vhs tapes?

I only see sony,tdk and maxell cassette tapes in my area and most are just normal bias,,who else still makes them and does scotch and memorexx still make them?

What about vhs tapes,,i see only tdk,rca and sometimes JVC,who else still makes them,same with scotch and memorex,do they?

 

Scotch would now be Quantegy. They still offer VHS tapes. Made in China though, so may as well forget them.

I can still get Japan-made Maxell VHS tapes at a broadcast supply store here. There's also Fuji but the quality is bad on those. They say assembled in China, Tape made in USA. I'd guess something goes wrong with the tape when they send it to China to be assembled. Sounds dumb to me. Is it really cheaper shipping tape to China, and then putting it in cassettes, and then sending it back to the USA?

 

The Memorex name is still around, but I can't remember seeing on any tapes lately (it has cropped up on CD blanks and electronics in recent years). Dunno whether it's still the same company or has been bought. 3M got out of the tape business quite some time ago, as I understand things.

 

Sony still makes, or at least still markets tape too.

A couple of years ago, Wal*Mart sold another major brand too.

Reel-to-reel? Quantagy is back in production AFAIK...

 

Only TDK still coats audio tape anymore, The 'D' normal cassette. The rest are either only assemblers or outsource the who product. Most of the tape comes from either Korea (SKM) or China. it is not anything close to the quality that was made in the 80s or 90s.

Sony, TDK, and Fuji still assemble VHS cassettes, but don't make the tape anymore. Maxell, JVC, etc. source them from others usually Korea (SKM).

The only thing that is still made whole anymore is camcorder tape - Mini DV by Fujifilm, Matsushita/Panasonic, Sony, and TDK - all in Japan.

3M/Scotch=gone, what's left is Imation, which doesn't sell consumer tape
Memorex=is now part of Imation, no tapes left

 

I thought memorex was imation now.are you saying that tdk still makes the tape and the others are just that in name and the tape is made by someone else

 

3M got out of tape entirely in 1996. I remember seeing their press release.




Dan

 

Yes, TDK is the only big name that actually makes audio tape anymore and not much:

They make the "D" normal bias tape in Japan and make and assemble the audio cassettes in Thailand. I wouldn't expect that to be for much longer.

Thus the TDK SA and Maxell XLII cassettes no longer have their own tape in them, nor are VHS tapes, which use the same tape as High bias audio cassettes.

Most of the big guys who made VHS tape are no longer coating any tape at all: Maxell, JVC-Victor, Scotch (long out of the business), EMTEC/BASF (out of business), Memorex (no longer make anything at all, just a brand). Sony, Panasonic, and Fuji make some videotape for MiniDV and professional use.

The rest either assemble tape bought from others and/or outsource the whole thing to either Korean companies (Saehan and SKM) or to China.

For example, miniDV cassettes are all made by four companies: Sony, TDK, Panasonic (makes for Maxell, Canon, some JVC-Victor) and Fuji (also for JVC-Victor).



Panasonic might still make their own microcassettes for dictation in Japan.

The only exceptions are mini DV tapes and some professional tapes, like Quantegy and broadcast video.

 

Is TDK's S-VHS tape made by themselves or outsourced?

 

I still use SVHS videotape and primarily just a few brands and grades. Fuji H471S, TDK XP Pro and Maxell BQ. I also use the high grade SVHS tape that is packaged as D-VHS tape by TDK, Maxell and JVC. The Fuji H471S is the best tape if price isn't a concern. It was still being made the last time I checked but that has been a couple of years. TDK was one of three or four companies still making SVHS tape although that could have changed as well by now. If you are concerned and want the best quality SVHS tape, TDK XP Pro is excellent, second only to Fuji H471S.

It is hard to determine now but I would guess that the last SVHS tape manufacturers are/were TDK, Fuji and JVC. VHS tape is so cheap, that none of the major manufacturers can compete and must have quit years ago. I have 1,000 SVHS tapes I use for HDTV D-VHS recording.

Chris

 

Good question. Given the low demand for S-VHS tape, my guess is that old stock is what is sold, although I have seen JVC and Fuji tapes with Japan tape assembled in China. Which means they are still coating S-VHS tape in very low quantities on their lines for Pro tape in Japan. This will go away since S-VHS is all but dead as a format for new machines.