STRATEGIC MANEUVERING AND MASS-MARKET DYNAMICS - THE TRIUMPH OF VHS OVER BETA

This article deals with the diffusion and standardization rivalry betw een two similar but incompatible formats for home videocassette record ers (VCRs): the Betamax, introduced in 1975 by the Sony Corporation, a nd the VHS (Video Home System), introduced in 1976 by the Victor Compa ny of Japan (Japan Victor or JVC). Despite being first to the home mar ket, the Beta format fell behind the VHS in market share during 1978 a nd declined thereafter. By the end of the 1980s, Sony and its partners had ceased producing Beta models. This study analyzes the history of this rivalry and examines its context-a mass consumer market with a dy namic standardization process subject to ''bandwagon'' effects that to ok years to unfold and that were largely shaped by the strategic maneu vering of the VHS producers.