Struggle for De Facto Standards

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss the struggle for the de facto standard based on the Betamax versus VHS case in the late 1970s. In the middle of the 1970s, Sony and JVC introduced Betamax and VHS, both of which satisfied minimum requirements for commercialization. Although Sony had a first mover advantage in the market, JVC and VHS group turned the face about by 1980. The capabilities for the first Betamax and VHS, SL-6300 and HR-3300, were almost equal. The first VHS excelled the first Betamax in the lighter weight, the longer recording time, the compatibility. The consumers preferred HR- 3300 because of the longer maximal recording time to videotape the movies, the baseball games, and the football games. Most videotaped programs by all VHS machines can playback except for a few models. On the other hand, Sony made a disconnection to the first Betamax when they launched Beta II in 1977. In addition, JVC formed the VHS group to catch up with Sony. This group worked effectively to enhance the product capability and the sales promotion.