Sony has closed the final chapter of its legendary battle to dominate
the home videotape machine market, announcing it would discontinue its
Betamax VCRs.
Sony will stop manufacturing Betamax machines at the end of this year
as the company refocuses its efforts on new technologies dominating the
market, Sony spokeswoman Shoko Yanagizawa said yesterday.
The announcement marks the end of a 27-year run, during which the
fabled brand sold 18 million units worldwide in a race against archrival
Victor's VHS to set the video format standard.
Betamax was first to the market, hitting stores in 1975, and peaked
with global sales of 2.3 million units in 1984.
But the decision not to share its technology with rival companies
proved to be Sony's fatal mistake.
In a classic case of the underdog winning the race, Victor's VHS -
short for Video Home System - had clearly won the battle by the mid-80s.
The technology, used now in millions of video recorders around the
world, is Victor's.
Yanagizawa said the decision pointed to a new era of digital video
discs, or DVDs, and other advanced digital technologies that were making
the video cassette obsolete.
Even VHS hasn't been enough for Victor.
The company lost money two of the last three fiscal years and is
forecasting losses for the year that ended March 31.
Overseas production of the Betamax ground to a halt in 1998, and
domestic production only hit 2,800 units in 2001.
AP
