Since its creation with the videocassette recorder 25 years ago, the modern consumer-electronics industry has changed surprisingly little. Apart from the personal computer (PC) and mobile telephone, which have both become industries in their own right, five new product categories have achieved mass acceptance: the video recorder, videogame consoles, cd players, answering machines and cordless phones. During that time, however, the main companies making consumer electronics have remained broadly the same. The list is still dominated by the Japanese firms, such as Sony and Matsushita (Panasonic), that have led for decades.
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