This paper examines the factors that affect market dominance in a standards competition by comparing the VHS–Beta war in the 1980s with that between Blu-ray and HD-DVD in the 2000s. We first look at the changing home video market in terms of technological development. Then we move on to discuss three main strategies in a standards war: first-mover advantage, indirect network effects and software provision, and strategic alliances of hardware firms. We find that technological innovation is essential. Being a first mover is helpful, but not sufficient, in building a dominant position in the market. Historical evidence shows that Sony created a network of complementary firms for Blu-ray. Consequently, an effective strategy to become a winner in a standards competition appears to be building a network of complementary products and subsequently an installed base.
PAGES
377 – 394
DOI
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Issues
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Agnes Horvath, Magic and the Will to Science: A Political Anthropology of Liminal Technicality
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Gibson Burrell, Ronald Hartz, David Harvie, Geoff Lightfoot, Simon Lilley and Friends, Shaping for Mediocrity: The Cancellation of Critical Thinking at our Universities
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Bas de Boer, How Scientific Instruments Speak: Postphenomenology and Technological Mediations in Neuroscientific Practice
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Bjørn Lomborg, False Alarm
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How does innovation arise in the bicycle sector? The users’ role and their betrayal in the case of the ‘gravel bike’