Dynamics of catch-up in mobile phones and automobiles in China: sectoral systems of innovation perspective

This paper looks at interesting stories of catch-up in the automobile and mobile phone sectors in China. It assesses the two sectors from the sectoral systems of innovation (SSI) framework. Among the building blocks of the SSI, the focus has been on the regime of technologies and knowledge, such as modularity, degree of embodied technical change, tacit knowledge, knowledge access, and frequency of innovations. According to this framework, indigenous automakers in China have been making a quick catch-up upon entry because the auto sectors tend to feature a higher degree of embodied technical change and increasing modularity in many components. However, their long-term destiny is sill uncertain given the considerable tacit knowledge in the sector and critical importance of integration capability. In mobile phones, early catch-up by indigenous Chinese makers and more recent setbacks are also explained. Early catch-up was possible owing to the high modularity of production and availability of a knowledge pool around the nation. The long-term prospects of this sector might be brighter than that of automobiles owing to high explicitness of knowledge of the sector. But a remaining bottleneck for Chinese makers might be the higher frequency of innovation which poses some challenge to late-comers. In addition to the regimes of technologies and knowledge, the paper also looks at the market regimes and the role of government in explaining the two industries in China.