Unofficial: Panasonic To Cease Production of Technics Turntables
Although, there has not been an official announcement, it appears that Panasonic will cease production of all Technics turntables in early 2010. Legendary decks, the Technics SL-1200 and SL-1210, will got the way of the DoDo bird…
The DMC site has this to say:
We have just heard the sad new from Panasonic (the manufacturer of Technics) that production of the world famous Technics SL-1200 and SL-1210 DJ turntables will stop at the end of February 2010. This marks the end of an era – Technics have been the industry standard for over 35 years with this turntable and the SL-1200 is synonymous with the DJ culture. It has been released and re-released over 9 times with different models and numerous other manufacturers have tried to compete with this deck, but above all, the Technics SL-1200 & Technics SL-1210 are the undisputed number one deck in the world.
The Future: Panasonic’s announcement should not come as a shock to anyone who’s been tracking turntable sales in the last couple of years. With Technics’ demise, another load of dirt can be shoveled onto the “Death of the Turntable” grave. The announcement does not come without some sadness as the icon of the DJ movement will now fade into the sunset. The question for the industry is: With Technics gone, what deck will become the new standard?
