Betamax was the superior format, it lost out because at the time, recording time was the primary motivator. Beta was used by the professional video industry for many years.
That said, Sony has come up with plenty of weird stuff that never quite caught on, like their digital audio tape format. Even sony cameras now allow the use of SD cards as well as the proprietary Memory Stick format.
I read once that what really sealed Betamax’s fate was the porn industry chose the other format to standardize on.