Most claims of "luck" don't hold up when examined closely. There are rather few cases of some technology being superior in every conceivable way to its active

Most claims of "luck" don't hold up when examined closely. There are rather few cases of some technology being superior in every conceivable way to its active competitor; usually, each has relative pros and cons. Beta wasn't superior in every way to VHS - at every point while they were still earnestly competing, VHS tapes had longer run times. Early Beta tapes only lasted one hour, not even letting you record an entire movie. (ETA: It was very popular to record on LP and SLP modes in VHS, further reducing quality to get extra recording time. Recording fidelity wasn't a winning factor.) Almost as bad, Sony waited a long time to license the format, turning away interested manufacturers who then produced VHS machines. End result? A (more) open format that was both more available and distinctly superior in an key aspect won out. Not exactly a roll of the dice.