This archive report was first published on 23 October 2019.
Published on October 23, 2019, a Standard article highlighted the concept of first-mover advantage, which companies like Ford, Gillette, and Coca-Cola enjoy. However, this concept is being challenged by authors Fernando Suarez and Gianvito Lanzollo, who argue that first-mover advantage is dependent on the pace of market and technology evolution.
According to Suarez and Lanzollo, a slow pace of market and technology evolution favors first-mover advantage. However, when technology and markets evolve quickly, first-mover advantage is harder to gain. This is evident in the case of Motorola, which created the world's first mobile phone and led the industry for about a decade. However, it failed to innovate and was eventually surpassed by companies like Samsung and Apple.
On the other hand, Steve Jobs exploited the late-mover advantage by building what users wanted, rather than following the existing market trend. This raises the question of which has more advantages: first-mover or late-mover.
SEE ALSO: Selling children's literature to inculcate a reading culture
