Funai is the Japanese company Funai Electric Co., Ltd., founded in 1951 in Osaka as Funai Mishin Shokai. In August 1961 it was renamed Funai Electric Co. The company’s founder was Tetsuro Funai, the son of a sewing-machine manufacturer.
In the 1950s, before the company’s official formation, Funai made sewing machines and became one of the first Japanese manufacturers to break into the American market. With the arrival of transistor technology, which reshaped the electronics market, Funai was officially established, and its first products were transistor radios.
In 1980, Funai launched a manufacturing and sales division in Germany. That same year the company developed the Compact Video Cassette (CVC) format together with Technicolor, trying to compete with the VHS and Betamax formats. But amid the ongoing VHS-versus-Betamax «format war,» CVC never gained wide acceptance and was abandoned a few years later.
In 1984, Funai released its first VHS videocassette recorder (model VP-1000) for the world market. VHS was quickly gaining ground and winning the «war» against Betamax, thanks in part to Funai’s timely supply. By 1990, Funai had become Japan’s largest manufacturer of two-head VHS VCRs.
In 1991 a U.S. sales office was set up, beginning sales of cathode-ray-tube televisions. In 1993 the company opened two modern plants in China, transferring all VCR manufacturing there from Japan, which allowed for a significant price cut. By 1997, Funai became the first manufacturer selling VHS VCRs for under $100 in the North American market. That success made founder Tetsuro Funai the first Japanese billionaire among electronics-company executives.
With the rise of DVD technology, Funai released its first sub-$100 DVD player by 2001. The company became one of the world’s largest DVD player manufacturers and a major electronics supplier to the Wal-Mart chain.
In 2008, founder and CEO Tetsuro Funai stepped down, becoming the company’s chairman. That same year Philips signed a seven-year licensing deal with Funai to sell and distribute televisions under the Philips and Magnavox brands in North America.
In the USSR, and later in Russia, Funai VCRs and TVs were among the first imported home electronics to appear in mass retail. In the early 1990s, Funai equipment was considered prestigious and reliable, yet affordable for the average consumer, which made it popular across the post-Soviet market.
Funai manufactured products under its own brand as well as for other well-known names, including Emerson, Sylvania, Symphonic, Denon, Toshiba, Sharp, JVC, and others.
In July 2016, Funai ceased production of VHS recording and playback equipment, becoming the last company in the world to make such devices.
In October 2024, a Tokyo district court ruled to begin bankruptcy proceedings for Funai Electric Co.