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DJ community was shocked on last week after an information spreaded on the web about the future of famous Technics turntables from Panasonic. Luckily it was just another wrong rumor which in our days can be spreaded in an hours to all the world through all these blogs and social networks (twitter, facebook, forums etc.). The origin of this fake story was a misunderstanding between Australian and New Zealand retailers and Panasonic representatives in that region. Anyway we still don't have any official statement from Japan Panasonic HQ. Here are some quotes from their later email: (source skratchworx):

Panasonic Australia answer to Jeremy Leitch, Managing Director of Store DJ:

"Regarding an email I sent last week regarding the end of manufacture of Technics turntables. We have had a misunderstanding in communication with the factory and my original email is incorrect. Panasonic will continue to manufacture and supply Technics turntables for the forseeable future. We regret any problems this may have caused in the meantime."

DMC New Zealand announcement:

"It’s Phillip here from DMC New Zealand. We sent the email newsletter to our customers last week advising of the announcement that the Technics turntables are being discontinued. I have provided some more information here as a further clarification of our sources on the news, as there has obviously been a huge amount of interest and debate on the topic on the internet over over the weekend.
DMC have been the main retailer of Technics turntables in New Zealand for about 10 years now. We received an email from the NZ Panasonic product manager for Technics, James Petterson (who I have dealt with for many years now), on the 19th of November advising “I am sorry to say that the manufacture of Technics turntables will end in February (2010). A sad day!” He advised that February was the last possible month for them to order any more stock. Finding the news too hard to believe we then requested further clarification from him from Japan – did this mean Technics were being discontinued just in the New Zealand market or was it a world wide thing? We received a reply from him the following week, on the 25th of November, stating - “Japan have come back and said that the turntables are being discontinued all over the world.” Panasonic New Zealand is actually owned by Panasonic Corporation Japan so this information has in effect come straight from the horse’s mouth. Taking this as confirmation we then emailed out the sad news to our customers the following day on the 26th. I was unaware at that stage that this was some of the first news of the announcement but I’ve subsequently seen that there have also been similar reports from Australia - "It is a sad day today but due to low sales globally in analogue turntables a decision to stop production has been made on Technics Turntables. For Australia this means we will receive our last shipment in March", says Ian North product manager for Panasonic Australia.
In a further discussion with James Petterson here in NZ over the weekend it appears that Panasonic Japan have so far advised some of their international distributors (like NZ and Australia) of the Technics news but have not announced it themselves from Japan. With the rapid world wide spread of the news on the internet it would be a good move for Panasonic Japan to come forth with an “official announcement” themselves very soon. DJs have supported these Turntables (and therefore their company) for over 35 years now so shouldn’t Japan themselves be letting everyone know this kind of news as soon as possible? It’s a long shot but our main hope is that there is enough worldwide support shown for Technics continuing, in the way of petitions, forums, blogs, etc, that Panasonic Corporation will bow to international pressure and change their minds - not allowing the legendary decks to become a thing of legend.
As they say, we will keep you posted as any more news comes to hand.

Phillip"