Technics SL-1200 goes out of production

I have various friends in the Japanese music business, and one of them (CEO of a dance-club in Tokyo) just received a notice from Panasonic KK, to the effect that the venerable SL-1200 is at long last going out of production.

The relevant contents of the correspondence from Panasonic loosely translate as follows:

***
We (Panasonic) launched the SL-1200 series of analog players in 1972, and have continued to sell them to the present. Based on DD (Direct-Drive) technology, the compactness and high performance of the SL-1200 series has won it many long-term adherents.

Despite this, unit sales have diminished year by year, also it has become more difficult to maintain the production system and continue procuring the required components. Simply put, sustaining production has become an ordeal.

With that in mind, we regretfully announce the end-of-life for the following products:

SL-1200 MK6 analog player
SH-EX1200 analog audio mixer
RP-DH1200 / RP-DJ1200 stereo headphones.

***
You can see a webpage of similar content here (but in Japanese)

http://blog-shibuya-club.diskunion.net/Entry/2157/

It's a sad day, but all good things eventually come to an end...

kind regards, jonathan carr