Videotape Format War

In the case of Betamax, larger, professional VCRs had been around for years, used by TV stations. Sony came up with the Betamax, which doubled the density with a "beta" track (interleaved for more density). They did not, however, license it to anyone else. You either bought a Sony Betamax or no Betamax. JVC then carefully avoided the patents and came up with Video Home System, which they liberally licensed to other companies. So it was monopoly (Betamax) vs. competitive supply at lower prices (VHS).