Fender and Gibson: from competition to market share[Fender et Gibson: de la concurrence au partage du marché]

Innovation is now seen as the essential resource when a company seeks to develop a competitive advantage. Whether it focuses on the product or the process, innovation must be based on the creation of new knowledge and skills, with the objective of value creation. Nevertheless, there are economic sectors in which the systematic pursuit of innovation is not the path to wealth and does not constitute either a competitive advantage or a selling point. Traditional stringed instrument making, both industrial and artisanal, is one of these. This focus aims to determine whether this also applies to the solid body electric guitar, the undisputed symbol of popular music from the 1960s to the present and the most widely sold electric instrument in the world. While the shop-window of a maker of instruments for string quartets is dominated by brown and sepia hues, and instruments of carefully-graded shapes, the window of a shop selling instruments for modern music displays a variety of colors and shapes. Seen "through the shop window", modern industrial instruments appear to be responses to their customers' requirements regarding an extensive and diversified range and a regular turnover of products. Whereas canons of the violin are well established and shared by everyone in the profession, canons for the electric guitar seem to be in constant evolution, in an ever-changing social and musical universe. However, a careful study of "the shop window" offered by trade journals and a re-examination of the history of the electric guitar from the standpoint of innovation places this abundance in perspective. The fault appears to lie with the musicians: they may be modern, but they are conservative to the point of rejecting innovation. However, companies also bear their share of the responsibility. This presentation belongs to the academic field of the firm strategy.