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Successive changes in leadership in the worldwide mobile phone industry: The role of windows of opportunity and firms’ competitive action

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  • Giachetti, Claudio
  • Marchi, Gianluca

Abstract

We take a historical perspective to gain insight into the determinants of changes in industrial leadership in the global mobile phone industry from the beginning of the 1980s to 2012. The theoretical foundation of our analysis is (a) the concept of ‘windows of opportunity’ proposed by industry evolution studies, i.e. changes in the technological, regulatory and consumer demand environment offering latecomers the opportunity to overtake leading rivals, and (b) the concept of ‘action aggressiveness’ proposed by the competitive dynamics literature, i.e. the extent to which a firm forcefully takes a large number and a wide variety of actions to outperform its competitors. We show that the potential for leadership changes is greater for firms that are able to undertake ‘aggressive’ competitive actions at the time when ‘significant’ windows of opportunity are open. In particular, we analyze the determinants of two leadership changes: (1) in the second half of the 1990s, when the US giant Motorola lost its number one position, dethroned by its Finnish competitor Nokia; and (2) in the first half of the 2010s, when Samsung of South Korea caught up with Nokia.

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  • Giachetti, Claudio & Marchi, Gianluca, 2017. "Successive changes in leadership in the worldwide mobile phone industry: The role of windows of opportunity and firms’ competitive action," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 352-364.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:46:y:2017:i:2:p:352-364
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2016.09.003
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    5. Kwak, Kiho & Kim, Namil, 2022. "Industrial Leadership Changes without Technological Discontinuity: Modularization, Institution-Led Market Discontinuity, and Market Development Strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    6. Zhang, Gupeng & Wang, Xiao & Duan, Hongbo & Zheng, Leven J., 2021. "How do new entrants’ pre-entry technological backgrounds impact their cross-industry innovation performances? A retrospective study of the mobile phone vendors," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    7. Yuzhe Miao & Jaeyong Song & Keun Lee & Chuyue Jin, 2018. "Technological catch-up by east Asian firms: Trends, issues, and future research agenda," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 639-669, September.
    8. Lee, Kyung Yul & Jung, Hyun Ju & Kwon, Youngsun, 2024. "Boundary-spanning technology search, product component reuse, and new product innovation: Evidence from the smartphone industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    9. Giachetti, Claudio & Mensah, Deborah Tiniwah, 2023. "Catching-up during technological windows of opportunity: An industry product categories perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    10. Davy, Elder & Hansen, Ulrich E., 2023. "A firm-level perspective on windows of opportunity," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Elisabet Garrido & Claudio Giachetti & Juan P. Maicas, 2023. "Navigating windows of opportunity: The role of international experience," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1911-1938, August.
    12. Fiona Kun Yao & Ming-Jer Chen & Jiatao Li & Danielle Combs & Qiang Li, 2024. "A review of 50 years of research since Knickerbocker (1973): competitive dynamics in international business," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(5), pages 522-550, July.
    13. Li, Daitian & Malerba, Franco, 2024. "Technological change and the evolution of the links across sectoral systems: The case of mobile communications," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    14. Lee, Keun, 2019. "Economics of Technological Leapfrogging," MPRA Paper 111034, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Yoon, Jungsub & Lee, Jeong-Dong & Hwang, Seogwon, 2022. "Episodic change: A new approach to identifying industrial transition," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
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    17. Rothgang, Michael & Lageman, Bernhard, 2021. "Kairos in Innovation Policy: Theoretical Background and Practical Implications for the Triple Helix," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 231-281.
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