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The VHS camp was skillful in attracting new members. It worked actively to supply its products to European and U.S. consumer electronics manufacturers on an OEM basis and made advances in the software business. The Beta camp had led in product development and launched products first, but it was losing ground day by day. As a result, three members of the Beta group, Toshiba, Sanyo, and NEC, began selling both formats, limiting VHS sales to overseas markets.
In response, Sony took an unusual approach to promote Betamax by running a series of advertisements over four days in major newspapers in Japan, beginning on January 25, 1984. This had consumers and indeed the whole industry buzzing. The first three advertisements featured negative head copy:  Is Betamax Dead? Is Buying a Betamax a Disadvantage? and What's Going to Happen to Betamax? The final advertisement set the record straight: Betamax: Getting More and More Exciting All the Time! This novel ploy caught the industry and consumers by surprise. Sony had its own unique way of responding to mass media reports that Betamax was losing ground and that its aficionados were feeling uneasy.
Despite these endeavors, the movement from Beta picked up speed. In 1988, Sony itself began marketing VHS under a policy of supplying both formats. Senior managing director Nobuo Kanoi, who was also responsible for the Video Business Group, earnestly explained Sony's position to manufacturers in both camps.
Deputy president Masaaki Morita, who had worked nonstop on promoting home-use VCRs since around 1972, put it this way to employees, Speaking frankly, we didn't want to manufacture VHS. However, you don't conduct business according to your feelings. Let's look at reality. The demand is getting stronger in the marketplace for Sony-made VHS products. Even if we have to bite the bullet, we ought to begin manufacturing VHS products for the sake of future growth. In any event, Sony aims to posture itself as the number one comprehensive VCR manufacturer, with Betamax for high quality picture and recording, 8mm formats for optimal compact personal use, and VHS for home video rental. Drawing on these strengths, we will be able to effectively respond to diverse consumer needs.
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 | | A culture promoting the enjoyment of the VCRs in the home is developed. |
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Sony was unable to unify the half-inch video tape recorder format for home use. However, in the course of competing with the VHS format while promoting its own, Sony learned a lot. In particular, Sony learned how to promote the unification of standards, something which has remained with the company ever since.
Moreover, in aiming to create a home-use VCR market, Sony introduced Betamax and its time-shift concept, both of which fundamentally changed the way people live. Betamax had significant ramifications for the motion picture industry and it proved to have considerable influence in transforming lifestyles. In addition, Betamax served to highlight the increasing importance of the software business.
In 1976, the year the video age was formally declared, a lawsuit was filed in the United States that attempted to stop this new video culture. Universal Pictures Inc. of the U.S. attempted to halt sales of Betamax and secure damages for copyright infringement, which the company asserted, would result from the pirated distribution of television programs using the technology. The case was taken as far as the U.S. Supreme Court and Sony fought it all the way. After an eight-year battle, Sony emerged triumphant, and consumers won the right to freely enjoy video tape recorders at home. Sony fought single handedly to both win the case and prevent the incident from affecting the whole industry. Free at last, the concept of time-shift spread rapidly around the world (see Part 1, Chapter 9).
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