IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v28y2017i1p46-63.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Technology Mergers and Acquisitions in the Presence of an Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Qiu-Hong Wang

    (School of Information Systems, Singapore Management University, Singapore 188065)

  • Kai-Lung Hui

    (School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong)

Abstract

We study the strategic benefits of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) when competing information technology vendors sell different generations of the same product with different quality. We assume the new product arrives unexpectedly when an installed base of the old product exists. We show that the combination of consumers’ purchase history and heterogeneity leads to new demand complexity that gives rise to innovative product strategies. We find that shelving the old product is an important motivation for M&A. The acquirer may exercise static or intertemporal price discrimination depending on whether it can exercise upgrade pricing. M&A may speed up or slow down new product consumption, and it can lead to delayed new product introduction in some markets. However, it always increases the acquirer’s profit and can sometimes help maximize social welfare. We discuss relevant managerial and policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiu-Hong Wang & Kai-Lung Hui, 2017. "Technology Mergers and Acquisitions in the Presence of an Installed Base: A Strategic Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 46-63, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:28:y:2017:i:1:p:46-63
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2016.0659
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2016.0659
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.2016.0659?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    2. Daniel A. Levinthal & Devavrat Purohit, 1989. "Durable Goods and Product Obsolescence," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(1), pages 35-56.
    3. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders in the Theory of Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 43-61.
    4. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1990. "Multiproduct Firms and Market Structure," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 45-62, Spring.
    5. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 1998. "Upgrades, Tradeins, and Buybacks," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 235-258, Summer.
    6. Xuanming Su, 2007. "Intertemporal Pricing with Strategic Customer Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 726-741, May.
    7. Anirudh Dhebar, 1994. "Durable-Goods Monopolists, Rational Consumers, and Improving Products," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(1), pages 100-120.
    8. Xinlei Zhao, 2009. "Technological Innovation and Acquisitions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(7), pages 1170-1183, July.
    9. Amit Mehra & Ram Bala & Ramesh Sankaranarayanan, 2012. "Competitive Behavior-Based Price Discrimination for Software Upgrades," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 60-74, March.
    10. Ronald L. Goettler & Brett R. Gordon, 2011. "Does AMD Spur Intel to Innovate More?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(6), pages 1141-1200.
    11. Deishin Lee & Haim Mendelson, 2007. "Adoption of Information Technology Under Network Effects," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 395-413, December.
    12. Harikesh Nair, 2007. "Intertemporal price discrimination with forward-looking consumers: Application to the US market for console video-games," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 239-292, September.
    13. William Boulding & Markus Christen, 2009. "Pioneering Plus a Broad Product Line Strategy: Higher Profits or Deeper Losses?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(6), pages 958-967, June.
    14. Alessandro Acquisti & Hal R. Varian, 2005. "Conditioning Prices on Purchase History," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 367-381, May.
    15. Mussa, Michael & Rosen, Sherwin, 1978. "Monopoly and product quality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 301-317, August.
    16. Perry, Martin K & Porter, Robert H, 1985. "Oligopoly and the Incentive for Horizontal Merger," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 219-227, March.
    17. Robert Garfinkel & Ram Gopal & Steven Thompson, 2007. "Releasing Individually Identifiable Microdata with Privacy Protection Against Stochastic Threat: An Application to Health Information," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 23-41, March.
    18. Ying-Ju Chen & Sridhar Seshadri, 2007. "Product Development and Pricing Strategy for Information Goods Under Heterogeneous Outside Opportunities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 150-172, June.
    19. Dirk Bergemann & Juuso Välimäki, 2006. "Dynamic Pricing of New Experience Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(4), pages 713-743, August.
    20. David Besanko & Wayne L. Winston, 1990. "Optimal Price Skimming by a Monopolist Facing Rational Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(5), pages 555-567, May.
    21. Michael Waldman, 2003. "Durable Goods Theory for Real World Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 131-154, Winter.
    22. Hüseyin Tanriverdi & Vahap Bülent Uysal, 2011. "Cross-Business Information Technology Integration and Acquirer Value Creation in Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 703-720, December.
    23. Marianna Makri & Michael A. Hitt & Peter J. Lane, 2010. "Complementary technologies, knowledge relatedness, and invention outcomes in high technology mergers and acquisitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 602-628, June.
    24. Sam Ransbotham & Sabyasachi Mitra, 2010. "Target Age and the Acquisition of Innovation in High-Technology Industries," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(11), pages 2076-2093, November.
    25. Bulow, Jeremy I, 1982. "Durable-Goods Monopolists," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(2), pages 314-332, April.
    26. Curtis R. Taylor, 2004. "Consumer Privacy and the Market for Customer Information," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 35(4), pages 631-650, Winter.
    27. Joan Calzada & Tommaso M. Valletti, 2012. "Intertemporal Movie Distribution: Versioning When Customers Can Buy Both Versions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 649-667, July.
    28. Gautam Ahuja & Riitta Katila, 2001. "Technological acquisitions and the innovation performance of acquiring firms: a longitudinal study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 197-220, March.
    29. Eric K. Clemons & Bruce W. Weber, 1996. "Alternative Securities Trading Systems: Tests and Regulatory Implications of the Adoption of Technology," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 163-188, June.
    30. Benjamin Hermalin & Michael Katz, 2006. "Privacy, property rights and efficiency: The economics of privacy as secrecy," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 209-239, September.
    31. Qian Liu & Dan Zhang, 2013. "Dynamic Pricing Competition with Strategic Customers Under Vertical Product Differentiation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 84-101, August.
    32. Vidyanand Choudhary, 2010. "Use of Pricing Schemes for Differentiating Information Goods," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 78-92, March.
    33. Nancy L. Stokey, 1981. "Rational Expectations and Durable Goods Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 112-128, Spring.
    34. Kutsal Doğan & Yonghua Ji & Vijay S. Mookerjee & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2011. "Managing the Versions of a Software Product Under Variable and Endogenous Demand," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 5-21, March.
    35. Jeremy Bulow, 1986. "An Economic Theory of Planned Obsolescence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 729-749.
    36. Charles Zhechao Liu & Esther Gal-Or & Chris F. Kemerer & Michael D. Smith, 2011. "Compatibility and Proprietary Standards: The Impact of Conversion Technologies in IT Markets with Network Effects," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 188-207, March.
    37. Laura J. Kornish, 2001. "Pricing for a Durable-Goods Monopolist Under Rapid Sequential Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(11), pages 1552-1561, November.
    38. Arthur Fishman & Rafael Rob, 2000. "Product Innovation by a Durable-Good Monpoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 237-252, Summer.
    39. K. Sridhar Moorthy & I. P. L. Png, 1992. "Market Segmentation, Cannibalization, and the Timing of Product Introductions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(3), pages 345-359, March.
    40. K. Sridhar Moorthy, 1984. "Market Segmentation, Self-Selection, and Product Line Design," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 288-307.
    41. Coase, Ronald H, 1972. "Durability and Monopoly," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 143-149, April.
    42. Janice Y. Tsai & Serge Egelman & Lorrie Cranor & Alessandro Acquisti, 2011. "The Effect of Online Privacy Information on Purchasing Behavior: An Experimental Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 254-268, June.
    43. In Ho Lee & Jonghwa Lee, 1998. "A Theory of Economic Obsolescence," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 383-401, September.
    44. Yongmin Chen & Jason Pearcy, 2010. "Dynamic pricing: when to entice brand switching and when to reward consumer loyalty," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(4), pages 674-685, December.
    45. Hemant K. Bhargava & Vidyanand Choudhary, 2008. "Research Note--When Is Versioning Optimal for Information Goods?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(5), pages 1029-1035, May.
    46. Nancy L. Stokey, 1979. "Intertemporal Price Discrimination," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(3), pages 355-371.
    47. Raymond Deneckere & Carl Davidson, 1985. "Incentives to Form Coalitions with Bertrand Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(4), pages 473-486, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yifan Dou & D. J. Wu, 2021. "Platform Competition Under Network Effects: Piggybacking and Optimal Subsidization," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 820-835, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Waldman, 2004. "Antitrust Perspectives for Durable-Goods Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 1306, CESifo.
    2. Qiu_Hong Wang & Kai-Lung Hui, 2005. "Technology Timing and Pricing In the Presence of an Installed Base," Industrial Organization 0512013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Jia, Kunhao & Liao, Xiuwu & Feng, Juan, 2018. "Selling or leasing? Dynamic pricing of software with upgrades," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 266(3), pages 1044-1061.
    4. Gerstle, Ari D. & Waldman, Michael, 2016. "Mergers in durable-goods industries: A re-examination of market power and welfare effects," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 677-692.
    5. Kai-Lung Hui & Qiu-Hong Wang, 2005. "Delayed Product Introduction," Industrial Organization 0503011, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Eric Brouillat, 2015. "Live fast, die young? Investigating product life spans and obsolescence in an agent-based model," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 447-473, April.
    7. Eric Brouillat, 2011. "Durability of consumption goods and market competition: an agent-based modelling," Post-Print hal-00780254, HAL.
    8. Kristina Brecko, 2023. "New Features Free of Charge? Intertemporal Product Versions and Pricing in the Software Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 61-86, January.
    9. Anita Rao, 2015. "Online Content Pricing: Purchase and Rental Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 430-451, May.
    10. Joan Calzada & Tommaso M. Valletti, 2012. "Intertemporal Movie Distribution: Versioning When Customers Can Buy Both Versions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 649-667, July.
    11. Jong‐Hee Hahn, 2006. "Damaged durable goods," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 121-133, March.
    12. Francesco Nava & Pasquale Schiraldi, 2019. "Differentiated Durable Goods Monopoly: A Robust Coase Conjecture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1930-1968, May.
    13. Liu, Jingchen & Zhai, Xin & Chen, Lihua, 2018. "The interaction between product rollover strategy and pricing scheme," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 116-135.
    14. Vish Krishnan & Karthik Ramachandran, 2011. "Integrated Product Architecture and Pricing for Managing Sequential Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(11), pages 2040-2053, November.
    15. Liu, Jingchen & Zhai, Xin & Chen, Lihua, 2019. "Optimal pricing strategy under trade-in program in the presence of strategic consumers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1-17.
    16. Utaka, Atsuo, 2008. "Pricing strategy, quality signaling, and entry deterrence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 878-888, July.
    17. Baojun Jiang & Lin Tian, 2018. "Collaborative Consumption: Strategic and Economic Implications of Product Sharing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(3), pages 1171-1188, March.
    18. Sreekumar R. Bhaskaran & Stephen M. Gilbert, 2009. "Implications of Channel Structure for Leasing or Selling Durable Goods," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 918-934, 09-10.
    19. Judith Chevalier & Austan Goolsbee, 2009. "Are Durable Goods Consumers Forward-Looking? Evidence from College Textbooks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1853-1884.
    20. Karthik Ramachandran & V. Krishnan, 2008. "Design Architecture and Introduction Timing for Rapidly Improving Industrial Products," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(1), pages 149-171, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:28:y:2017:i:1:p:46-63. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.