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If you asked anyone in the 1980s about VCRs, they would probably name JVC. The company that gave the world the VHS format was synonymous with home video and one of the leaders in consumer electronics. VCRs, televisions, audio equipment — JVC products filled store shelves and homes of consumers around the world, informs Ukr.Media.
However, today only the name remains of its former greatness. But how and why did this happen?
How an American company became a Japanese tech giant
The history of JVC began not in Japan, but in America. There, back in 1901, the Victor Talking Machine Company appeared in the American state of New Jersey, which became the largest manufacturer of sound recording equipment. Its symbol was the inquisitive fox terrier Nipper, who bowed his head in front of a gramophone – this famous logo “His Master's Voice” is still familiar to many.
In 1927, the American company decided to reduce production costs by moving part of its production outside the United States. The choice fell on Japan – at that time a developing country with low taxes and cheap but hardworking labor. And so the Victor Company of Japan appeared. However, the Americans approached the matter wisely: they put an experienced manager, Ben Gardner, at the head of the Japanese division and established decent salaries. This allowed them to attract the best specialists in the country.
Just two years later, the Victor Talking Machine Company was fully purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). The Japanese division automatically came under the control of the company and quickly proved its effectiveness. By 1930, a full-fledged factory was already operating in Yokohama, producing audio players and gramophone records. Success was not long in coming – the products were in high demand, and the profit allowed it to develop new areas. In 1932, the company mastered the production of radio receivers, and by 1937, engineers had created their own model of a superheterodyne radio receiver.
The crowning achievement of this period was the release of the prototype of the first Japanese television in 1939. However, all plans were destroyed by the war.
War and post-war years
With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the company's fortunes changed dramatically. RCA, unwilling to maintain ties with the Japanese division, abandoned it. Management passed to one of Japan's fifteen powerful zaibatsu – family-owned conglomerates. The company soon came under the control of Tokyo Electric, which later became the Toshiba we know today.
In 1943, with Japan already at war with the United States, the company changed its American name, Victor, to Nippon Onkyo Company (which, interestingly, is not related to the modern Onkyo company – the word simply means “sound resonance” in Japanese). JVC's factories switched to producing military radio equipment, which, however, played a cruel joke on them – they were on the list of priority targets for Allied bombing. By the end of the war, only ruins remained of the production facilities.
After the war, the company, renamed Japan Victor Company (JVC), was given a chance to revive. It was joined by a man called the “father of television” – Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi. It was he who, back in 1926, was the first in the world to receive an image using a cathode ray tube. This talented engineer played a key role in the development of the company's television technology.
However, the financial situation remained critical. The Industrial Bank of Japan, which became the owner of JVC, tried unsuccessfully to find buyers – it turned to Toshiba and the American RCA, but was refused. In war-torn Japan, there was a catastrophic lack of funds to repay debts and support production. Salvation came unexpectedly – the company was purchased by Matsushita, known today as Panasonic. This decision opened a new chapter in the history of JVC.
By 1953, the economic situation had improved so much that JVC not only resumed production of LP records, but also released its first mass-produced television. The company rapidly expanded its product range: in 1957, it introduced the first full-fledged stereo system, and by the end of the 1950s, it had established the production of musical instruments and reel-to-reel tape recorders.
1956 was a landmark year for the industry — the American company Ampex introduced the world's first video recorder, the VR-1000.
Japanese companies quickly appreciated the prospects of this direction. JVC, Matsushita and Toshiba joined forces, and three years later they introduced their first VCR. It turned out to be noticeably more compact than its American counterpart and surpassed it in recording quality. The development was based on the revolutionary two-head spiral scanning system created by JVC engineers. However, the first model of the VCR was still the size of a small room and was suitable only for television studios.
Under Takayanagi's leadership, the first Japanese color television also appeared in 1958. This period was a turning point in the company's history. JVC not only resumed production, but also laid the foundation for future innovations. Cooperation with other Japanese electronics manufacturers allowed the company to accumulate invaluable experience, which in the next decade would help to revolutionize the world of electronics.
The era of technological breakthrough
In the early 1960s, JVC created the Nivico (Nippon Victor Corporation) brand for a line of console televisions and stereo systems. In 1966, the company began producing graphic equalizers, expanding its presence in the audio market.
The real breakthrough came with Sony's development of the U-matic video cassette format in the late 1960s. Before its release, Sony, JVC, and Matsushita agreed to create a single standard to avoid competition from incompatible systems.
1970 brought to the world one of JVC's most unusual inventions – the “Videosphere” television. Inspired by the era of space travel and the film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, this portable television in the shape of an astronaut's helmet became a real hit. Its popularity was explained not only by its futuristic design, but also by its practicality.
That same year, JVC developed the CD-4 system, a quadraphonic system for vinyl records. Although it was considered the best of its kind, it was not a commercial success.
In 1975, the company introduced the Model 3050, the world's first portable battery-powered radio with a built-in three-inch black-and-white television. A year later, the improved Model 3060 appeared with an added cassette recorder – thus the first radio that combined a radio, cassette player and television was born.
The VHS era
But the most important achievement of this period was the development of the VHS format. JVC engineers Yuma Shiraishi and Shizuo Takano began work on the project, creating a special matrix of goals for a home video recording device. However, the Japanese commercial video recording industry soon faced a financial crisis. JVC cut budgets, restructured its video division, and officially closed the VHS project. But Takano and Shiraishi did not give up – they continued to work on the project and by 1973 created the first functional prototype of the HR-3300.
The first serial VCR, the HR-3300, was introduced on September 9, 1976, at the Okura Hotel in Tokyo. The device had two large rotary knobs for VHF and UHF tuning, separate antenna inputs and outputs, and composite video connectors. An important feature was an electronic timer that allowed programming of recording of a single event for up to 24 hours.
However, the history of the VHS format began at a dramatic moment, when Sony already dominated the market with its Betamax format, released a year earlier. At first glance, Betamax had advantages: the cassettes were more compact and the picture quality was slightly better. But it had a significant disadvantage: the shorter recording time.
Engineer Shizuo Takano, the head of the VHS development team, made an unexpected and bold decision – he offered to share the technology with other manufacturers for free. This move turned out to be a genius: one company after another began to produce VHS-standard VCRs. Matsushita (the parent company of JVC) was the first to support the format, abandoning its own VX standard.
By 1984, the outcome of the “format wars” was clear: forty companies were using the VHS format, while only twelve supported Betamax. In 1988, Sony admitted defeat and began manufacturing VHS VCRs. Over the following years, over 900 million VCRs of this format were sold.
Development of other areas
In parallel with the development of VHS, the company actively developed other areas. In 1978, JVC introduced the world's first two-cassette deck with support for improved type II tape, created the first portable VHS system and the Multiplex television reception system. In the same year, the iconic RC-550 “El Diablo” boombox appeared, whose massive design and powerful 25-centimeter speaker determined the appearance of an entire generation of portable radios.
In the 1980s, JVC became one of the largest international manufacturers of audio and video equipment. The company tried to compete with the Sony Walkman by releasing a line of innovative players in 1982, including the CQ-F22K model with a unique removable radio unit, but these products failed to gain market share.
In 1981, JVC revolutionized the audio world with its line of direct-drive cassette decks. The flagship DD-9 model offered unrivaled playback stability.
In 1982, the compact VHS-C format for camcorders appeared, and in 1986 the company introduced the smallest camcorder at that time, the GR-C7.
In the same year, JVC tried its hand at the home computer market with the MSX-standard HC-95 model, equipped with two processors, but this experiment was not successful.
In 1987, JVC continued to improve VHS technology by introducing a number of improved formats. The S-VHS standard was developed with improved picture quality, VHS-C compact cassettes for camcorders, and the W-VHS format, which allowed recording of high-definition analog video. Later, Digital-VHS (D-VHS) was introduced for digital video recording.
The capabilities of VHS technology also proved to be in demand in the professional field. The format was used in 8-track digital audio recorders for the music industry due to its ability to store large amounts of data.
As the world began to move to disc-based video formats such as DVD, JVC continued to develop VHS-based technology. The company improved D-VHS into the D-Theater format, which offered higher video quality. However, these developments did not become widespread: most consumers did not have high-definition televisions, and discs were more convenient to use. Even the S-VHS format did not gain widespread acceptance – users preferred standard VHS VCRs, often using a long recording mode with reduced quality, until they switched to DVD players and digital video recorders.
The digital age and the decline of the legend
In the 1990s, JVC actively developed digital technologies. By 2000, the company had developed the Dynamic Drum system, the Super VHS ET format, and the professional Digital-S format. At the same time, JVC began to develop the digital television market in the United States, releasing a digital satellite receiver with a digital stream recording function. The company introduced the Super Digifine product line, for which the design of car audio equipment was developed by the famous Giorgetto Giugiaro. In 1990, production of CD+G Karaoke karaoke systems began, and in 1992 the Digital Vision system appeared.
1995 was a landmark year – JVC introduced the world's first pocket camcorder, the GR-DV1.
The company continued to develop video technology: in 1993, the ILA projector and the W-VHS format for high-definition television (HDTV) were developed, and in 2003, the first HD camcorder, the GR-HD1, appeared.
In the early 2000s, JVC made an unexpected breakthrough in the field of acoustics. In 2003, the company introduced the EX-A1 stereo system, the first to feature speakers made of wood. The technology was called Wood Cone, and the solution to the problem of stamping out the capricious material came from an unexpected source: Japanese cuisine, where the technique of soaking in sake was used.
However, behind the technological successes were serious financial problems. Between 1991 and 1995, the company cut 4,000 jobs. Research and development budgets were constantly being cut. Many innovative projects became obsolete before they even reached the market, causing losses for the company.
By 2001, the situation had become critical – JVC provided only 7% of sales of the parent company Matsushita. Attempts to enter the personal computer market were unsuccessful, and the company cut another 3,500 jobs. In 2007, Matsushita Electric introduced external management at JVC. An audit showed that even new investments could no longer save the company.
As a result, JVC was sold to Kenwood, which retained the production of acoustics and car radios, closing most other areas. Production facilities were sold off, and the rights to use the JVC brand for various product categories began to be transferred to other companies. Now you can find JVC kettles, microwaves, blenders, humidifiers and vacuum cleaners.
The fate of the television industry is particularly telling. At different times, different companies received the rights to produce JVC televisions. AmTRAN Video Corporation produced televisions for the North American market until 2018, after which the license was transferred to the Chinese Shenzhen MTC. In the European market, JVC-branded televisions were produced by Dixons Carphone and the Turkish concern Vestel, and in India, since 2019, these rights have belonged to the Viera Group.
