subject: Is Mobile Internet Disruptive Innovation? [print this page] Is mobile Internet sustaining technology or disruptive technology? Mobile Internet gives the first impression of devastating. It gives numerous opportunities for new entrants. But it seems that the existing large companies but also have advantages, so it is sustaining.
In the sustaining environment, if the competition requires companies to provide better products and sell to attractive customers to get more profits, we found that the existing enterprises in the market almost always win in the competition."
In the disruptive environment, if the challenge is to make simpler and more convenient product commercialize, though the sales of these products get less profits, it can attract new or unattractive customer base and the market entrants are more likely to beat the existing enterprises in the market.
The common features of the disruptive technology products are that the performance is lower than the mature products in the mainstream market, but they have properties that some marginal consumers, usually new consumers, are looking for. They are usually cheaper and have easier performance, smaller volume and often more convenient to consumers.
This characterization to some extent explains why the new enterprises will win. Because the existing large enterprises think the low-end market or new markets unprofitable, big companies automatically give up those markets. However, due to disruptive innovation has faster improving rate, they eventually invade the sites of large enterprises, seize the shares or replace them.
On the contrary, if it is continuity environment, new entrants are challenging existing large enterprises with higher performance. The large enterprises will use all resources to protect their own market. This is the reason why large companies often win in the continuity environment.
Is the mobile Internet destructive or sustaining? This issue needs to be subdivided to discuss. There should be a unified conclusion. If the smart phone is regarded as a portable computer, it is destructive as far as the computer is concerned. The computing power of smart phones is lower and the purposes are not so diverse, but it is more convenient and easy.
If the smart phone is regarded as a data acquisition device with the cloud, then the mobile Internet is more sustaining, because when it involves cloud, large enterprises have stronger resources and technology and they will not give up this market. The analyst said that if the smart phone is regarded as a tool for the association between people, it both may be sustaining and destructive.
