Competitive Dynamics in the Mobile Phone Industry

This book explores which kind of competitive moves and countermoves have been taken by mobile phone vendors like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and Apple, as well as emerging rivals from developing countries, to defend their competitive position over the industry life cycle, and which factors have driven these actions.

The intersection between the competitive dynamics literature and the literature on technology and innovation management is an important area of research. Previous literature has focused on understanding the different types of innovations and how firms use these to improve their product performance. However, we are still way off from a comprehensive understanding of the competitive dynamics triggered by such decisions. This book offers various insights into the competitive dynamics of technology intensive industries, using the mobile phone industry as a reference setting of analysis. In particular, it explores which kind of competitive moves and countermoves have been taken by mobile phone vendors such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and Apple, as well as emerging rivals from developing countries, to defend their competitive position over the industry life cycle, and which factors have driven these actions. The book is divided into two parts. The first part offers a general perspective on the competitive dynamics literature. The second part consists of chapters on more specific issues related to the dynamics of competitive strategy in technology intensive industries, and in the mobile phone industry in particular.