JVC

Lore & Background

JVC was founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, Limited, a subsidiary of the United States' Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America purchased Victor and its foreign subsidiaries, including the Japan operations. Following the acquisition by RCA, JVC began producing radios, and in 1939, Japan's first locally made television. In 1943, amidst hostilities between the United States and Japan during World War II, JVC seceded from RCA Victor, retaining the 'Victor' and 'His Master's Voice' trademarks for use in Japan only. After the war, JVC resumed distribution of RCA Victor recordings in Japan until RCA established its separate distribution in Japan during the late 1960s.

In 1953, JVC became majority-owned by the Matsushita Corporation. In the 1960s, JVC established the Nivico (Nippon Victor Corporation) brand for Delmonico's line of console televisions and stereos. In 1970, JVC marketed the Videosphere, a portable CRT television inside a space-helmet-shaped casing with an alarm clock at the base. In 1971, JVC introduced the first discrete system for four channel quadraphonic sound on vinyl records – CD-4. In 1975, JVC introduced the first combined portable battery-operated radio with inbuilt TV, and one year later expanded the model to add a cassette recorder, creating the world's first boombox with radio, cassette and TV.

In 1976, JVC introduced the first VCR to use VHS, the Victor HR-3300. In the late 1970s, JVC developed the VHS format, introducing the first VHS recorders to the consumer market in 1976. Sony, which had introduced the Betamax home videocassette tape a year earlier, became the main competitor, creating the videotape format war. By 1984 forty companies were using JVC's VHS format, while only 12 used Betamax. Sony began producing VHS recorders in 1988 and stopped making Betamax recorders for the US market in 1993, stopping production of the format completely in 2002.

Reader's Guide

JVC's most significant legacy is the development of the VHS format, which won the videotape format war against Sony's Betamax and became the dominant home recording standard. The company's introduction of the first VHS recorder in 1976, followed by widespread adoption by forty companies by 1984, established VHS as the common format for home video. JVC's strategy of selling blank tapes to major Hollywood studios helped launch the nascent home video rental market, particularly in the UK, and the adult movie industry's adoption of VHS further drove hardware sales. Beyond VHS, JVC contributed notable innovations including Japan's first locally made television in 1939, the first discrete quadraphonic sound system (CD-4) in 1971, the first combined portable radio with inbuilt TV in 1975, and the world's first boombox with radio, cassette and TV in 1976. The company also developed the VHD disc system and introduced revolutionary direct-drive cassette decks in the 1980s. In 2001, JVC received an Emmy Award for 'Pioneering Development of Consumer Camcorders'. The company's merger with Kenwood in 2008 created JVCKenwood, and in 2011 the Victor brand for electronics in Japan was replaced by the global JVC brand, though the Victor name is retained by subsidiary Victor Entertainment.

Did You Know?

• JVC was founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan, a subsidiary of the US Victor Talking Machine Company.
• JVC developed the VHS format and introduced the first VHS recorder, the Victor HR-3300, in 1976.