LaserDisc

Why was the LaserDisc invented, how was it received, and what led to its failure in the marketplace. Is there something to learn when working on current projects?

LaserDisc launched in 1978 as a competitor to VHS tapes. They provided higher quality picture and audio straight to your TV. They were the first commercial optical disc medium. They had features such as variable playback speed, frame by frame playback, forward or reverse playback, frame indexing, stereo sound and more. Many of these were either new, or improved features when compared to competitors at the time (VHS and Betamax). So why didn’t LaserDisc catch on?

LaserDisc Problems

The Discs

LaserDiscs were large and fragile. They were made 12” in diameter (the size of records) which made storage difficult. They were made of glass or plastic, each coming with its own issues. Glass was heavy and plastic was easily damaged.

Prices

The discs were also expensive. They could costs upwards of $50 (not adjusted for inflation!). Players could cost upwards of $500 (also not adjusted for inflation). That is the equivalent of $190 and $1900 today. That’s a steep price to pay when compared to VHS prices ($200 for a player and $10 for a tape).

Limited Content

The discs also could only hold roughly 1 hour of content. This means that movies often had to be broken into two parts. The user would need to flip the disc to finish the movie.

Television Sizes

Although LaserDisc had much higher quality than VHS, not many people had TV’s that were large enough for the quality to matter as much. It’s harder to tell if the resolution is bad if your screen is only 25 inches.

Lack of Recording

They had no recording capability. One of the things that made VHS tapes great is that they could be used to record TV shows on cable, or personal videos. LaserDisc lacked this option.

They Didn’t Solve a Major Consumer Problem

In the 1960’s and 1970’s, many people didn’t own and watch movies at home. They saw movies at the theater, and watched cable television. They would tune in and watch their favorite shows each week. The concept of owning your own library was expensive and foreign. The LaserDisc only supported this.

VHS on the other hand did solve a consumer problem. What happened if you missed an new episode of your favorite show? Before, you had to wait for a rerun. VHS allowed users to record their show and watch whenever they wanted. Now, if they missed an episode, they could watch when they wanted. Unfortunately, this was a feature that the LaserDisc lacked.

Difficult Market

The market wasn’t friendly. They were too late to the home video game and VHS dominated the market by the time they entered. They didn’t offer enough significant improvements to convince consumers to make the switch.

Finally in the late 1990’s, DVD came around and ended the hopes for LaserDisc. DVD’s were more affordable ($300 for a player and $20 for a DVD). They were more durable, smaller, had a higher capacity, and, most importantly, allowed for recording. Lastly, DVD’s were an optical solution, which allowed them to last longer than VHS. LaserDisc was no longer the sole product in the market with this feature!

Conclusion

Overall, LaserDisc was ahead of its time. It was made before the technology was ready, which created barriers, like cost and lack of televisions that could take advantage of the improved quality. It was also made at a time when watching movies at home wasn’t valued. Their primary audience didn’t exist when they first entered the market. They played an important rule as the first mover in the optical disc space, but ultimately couldn’t compete with VHS or, later, DVD.

What can we learn from LaserDisc?

• Make sure you have product market fit.

  • If watching movies at home was a need at the time of release, the LaserDisc likely could have done better.

• Think about the whole customer experience, rather than just the primary use of the product.

  • If LaserDiscs were more convenient to use, or had a larger content capacity, would they have performed better?

• Cost can always be a limiting factor, especially in an unfavorable market.