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Catch-up and the entry strategies of latecomers: Chinese firms in the mobile phone sector
[EMNE catch-up strategies in the wind turbine industry: is there a trade-off between output and innovation capabilities?]

Author

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  • Gianluca Capone
  • Daitian Li
  • Franco Malerba

Abstract

As interfaces between human beings and the digital world, mobile phones have evolved from relatively simple devices (e.g., feature phones) to complex products (e.g., smartphones). Many firms in emerging countries such as China have successfully entered the mobile phone sector. A research question that emerges from the evidence on China is whether the entry strategies of these catching up firms have been affected by the introduction of smartphones. In order to investigate this question, the article follows the methodology of evolutionary theory and history-friendly models. It first examines historically the various strategies of the Chinese entrants in the mobile phone sector. On the basis of this empirical analysis, it then develops appreciative theorizing on the factors that have affected the catch-up entry strategies. Our results show that the successful catch-up entry strategies differ depending on the sectoral environment. A technology-driven strategy is more appropriate when there is a market sheltered from competition, so that technological capabilities can be accumulated; on the contrary a marketing-driven strategy is more appropriate when standardized technological solutions become widely available. The article contributes to the catch-up literature by identifying a new entry strategy and by pointing at the role of the sectoral environment, and to the sectoral innovation system literature by addressing the catch-up strategies of latecomer firms under different technological, industrial structure, and market conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianluca Capone & Daitian Li & Franco Malerba, 2021. "Catch-up and the entry strategies of latecomers: Chinese firms in the mobile phone sector [EMNE catch-up strategies in the wind turbine industry: is there a trade-off between output and innovation ," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(1), pages 189-213.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:30:y:2021:i:1:p:189-213.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/icc/dtaa061
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    Cited by:

    1. Paredes-Frigolett, Harold & Pyka, Andreas & Leoneti, Alexandre Bevilacqua, 2021. "On the performance and strategy of innovation systems: A multicriteria group decision analysis approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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