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One Ring to Unite Them All: Convergence, the Smartphone, and the Cloud

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  • Bryan Pon
  • Timo Seppälä
  • Martin Kenney

Abstract

This paper examines how recent trends in the smartphone industry may be expanding previous conceptions of the industry and its boundaries. The increasing importance of Internet and cloud-based services—which in many ways lie outside the control of the physical device, operating system, and even the cellular network—seems to be changing the roles and strategies of key firms in the ecosystem. Using industry architecture and platform theory, we examine how the key firms seem to be reacting to these new changes. Our analysis indicates that the platform “bottleneck,” or key control point, is moving away from the device and into the cloud, where a new meta-platform based on the Internet may be emerging. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Bryan Pon & Timo Seppälä & Martin Kenney, 2015. "One Ring to Unite Them All: Convergence, the Smartphone, and the Cloud," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 21-33, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jincot:v:15:y:2015:i:1:p:21-33
    DOI: 10.1007/s10842-014-0189-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Xing Wan & Javier Cenamor & Jing Chen, 2017. "Exploring Performance Determinants of China’s Cable Operators and OTT Service Providers in the Era of Digital Convergence—From the Perspective of an Industry Platform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-19, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Smartphone; Platform; Bottleneck; Apple iOS; Android; L14; L15; L86; L96;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • L96 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Telecommunications

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