Two notes: The guy in the grey suit has the worst haircut of the entire 70s, and it seems very convenient the sample customer didn't bother asking how much this beast cost -- because they were a small fortune.
Also, it seems only to have used the Beta I speed. It's amazing they sold any units at all.
Just last week I had a coworker trying to pass off the myth that VHS won the format war over Beta all because of the porn industry throwing in with VHS.
It all came down to Sony swearing that customers would choose quality over everything else. After all, TV stations chose Beta for the same reason. Why wouldn't every Joe Consumer?
They honestly were completely blindsided by the fact that people preferred a longer tape time than 60 minutes so you could actually watch a damn movie on the thing (or record sports games).