Video Game Case
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In many markets the decisions of some consumers market share. (Note: Generally, firms should compete can affect the utility other consumers receive from a for profits rather than market share.) Therefore, strate- product. These so-called network externalities are gy concepts that center around developing market common in markets where products need to be con- share and mass acceptance of products, such as nected together into a network (e.g., a telephone) or economies of scale, first mover advantage, and tech- ancillary products are needed to fully benefit from a nological innovation, feature greater prominence in good (e.g., compact disks for a CD player). In these the analysis of these industries than they do for others. types of markets standards are needed to aid both con- The study presents a historical analysis of the US sumers and producers. Interestingly, in these markets home video game industry to explore what roles these where network externalities are present the basis for strategic issues play in a standard-based industry. competition between firms changes. Based on early Also, we try to understand how they might be differ- SCORING VIDEO GAMES’ standard CONTRIBUTIONS SCOTT GALLAGHER AND SEUNG HO PARK ©DigitalVision work by economists J. Farrell and G. Saloner, this is ent from competing in traditional manufacturing because—with network externalities—market share industries. In particular, we focus on technological itself becomes a potentially valuable resource for innovations, switching costs, installed base, and com- firms. plementary products as determinants of de facto stan- Traditional strategic frameworks explain discrep- dards and firm success in the US home video game ancies in levels of firm performance as an interaction industry. We then attempt to draw a comprehensive between the external environment (e.g., industrial conceptual model that explains firm success in a net- forces) and the resources and capabilities that are work-based industry. developed and deployed by firms. Competition in The US home video game market is an important standard based industries does not overturn existing example of a standard based industry because cus- frameworks. However, since the existing installed tomers purchase or rent software to use with their base of products is a potential competitive advantage, console. The need to interface between software and firms now have greater motivation to compete for hardware in this industry thus creates a need for an ©PHOTODISC/J.NISHINAKA COMPOSITE: MKC 4 IEEE POTENTIALS industry standard to lower transaction costs and avoid ing costs, installed base, backward compatibility, or confusion for consumers. The home video game mar- complementary products? ket is a significant sector of the home electronics 1) Dominant designs: While definitions vary industry with 2002 sales of $10.3 billion in the US slightly, there is considerable consensus in the innova- according to data from the NPD group. In addition, tion literature that product designs (or production this industry is also of potential interest to scholars processes) in markets enter periods of punctuated because it presents a dynamic and intensely competi- equilibrium referred to as dominant designs. Hender- tive environment for firms. Since the first emergence son and Clark have offered one of the best definitions of a dominant design based on a cartridge system in of a dominant design as the product architecture that 1976 there have been at least five stages of technolog- embodies all the primary characteristics of later prod- ical innovations based on video graphics capability. A ucts. For example, a typewriter that allows the typing sixth round of innovation is presently underway pit- of upper and lower case letters that can be seen as ting industry heavyweight Sony's PlayStation 2 they are typed is a dominant design. All typewriters against U.S. software giant Microsoft's Xbox, and that followed, even if from different makers, had long time industry stalwart Nintendo's GameCube. those features. The emergence of the initial dominant Even more remarkable is that there have been dramat- design is usually what allows a well-defined market to ic changes of market leadership along with these take shape. A study of the US personal computer waves of technological innovation. industry showed that adopting the dominant design This frequent change of market leadership stands was important once it had emerged, but there was lit- in stark contrast to changes in other recently emergent tle performance difference between firms that devel- industries, such as the personal computer industry. For oped the dominant design and those that quickly example, the personal computer industry saw the adopted it. We will define a dominant design as the rapid imposition of standards upon IBM's entry in aspects of the video game consoles that are technical- 1981 and has strong backward compatibility; the ly distinguishable to consumers, such as storage introduction of Pentium chips or Windows 95 did not media and interface. preclude the use of software that had been written for However, even after a dominant design emerges, DOS on the new machines. In contrast, backward technical improvement of products and/or production compatibility has been rare in the home video game processes continues. Early views were that it is gener- industry. Each generation has effectively "reset the ally difficult for incumbents to survive shifts in the clock" of competition between firms. Therefore, firms underlying technologies of their industry. Later mod- in the home video game industry fought what could els recognized that these innovative processes could be viewed as a full-blown standards war about every be either competence enhancing or competence five years. destroying for firms. It is generally assumed that the emergence of a dominant design depends on the nature and extent of key STANDARD STRATEGIES technological innovation in an industry. When competing in standard-based industries, 2) Switching costs: Switching costs are costs cus- managers cannot check all the extant precepts of strate- tomers incur moving from one product to another. gic management at the door such as core competen- Once a dominant design emerges creating switching cies, aligning on a business level strategy, and costs becomes a central feature of competition in stan- competing in attractive industries. While the full array dard based industries according to C. Shapiro and of relevant variables for competition in these industries H.R. Varian. Switching costs are facilitated and mutu- remain open for discussion, this study focuses on three ally reinforced by two things: complementary prod- issues directly related to standards and innovation: ucts and network effects. Complementary products 1) The role of the dominant design, a single archi- are simply those products that are needed to maximize tecture that embodies all of the key features and ele- the utility of the core product. Complementary prod- ments of a product; ucts can be physical, e.g., razor blades for razors, or 2) The role of customer switching costs, which are intangible, e.g., touch typing skills for QWERTY key- the costs incurred by customers and rival suppliers for board layouts. Since investments by consumers in moving between standards; either kind raises their switching costs, the provision 3) The important role of installed base, the current of these complements is critical for firms competing number of adherents to a standard. in standard based industries. As we focus on these aspects specific to standard- Switching costs can also arise out of the need for based industries, we'll attempt to address three impor- interconnectedness (i.e., network effects, for example tant theoretical issues. First, what are the roles of the telephone network) where customers become rela- standards versus traditional sources of competitive tively more "locked in" to a standard as more cus- advantage to establish market leadership in network- tomers are likely to spend on these complements. based industries? Second, what are the economic and Therefore, in order to enter a standard based industry, competitive processes in traditional versus standards a competitor must offer a product that is significantly competition? Finally, what are the direct sources of more technologically advanced than existing products. success in establishing an industry standard in a net- 3) Installed base: Once customers start to incur work-based industry, i.e., superior technology, switch- switching costs, then (and only then) the installed base APRIL/MAY 2003 5 of existing users starts to become a valuable resource umph of Matsushita's video home system (VHS) for- for firms. Installed base is the existing number of mat over Sony's Betamax format is a classic example users of a product. Therefore, the most direct way to of a de facto standard. Matsushita's victory has been build a firm's installed base is to be an early seller in a attributed to having complementary products, such as market. Early entry into a market often provides a videotape rentals, and being able to ramp up produc- lasting source of competitive advantage if the entrant tion to build its installed base. This success led to the can preempt assets, control technological leadership, rapid disappearance of Sony's Betamax as the installed or create customer-switching costs. The preemption of base of VHS format VCRs quickly expanded. assets refers to the benefits a firm gains by accessing The tendency for markets to pick one standard over valuable resources before their value is known, e.g., a the other is referred to as tipping. Tipping often causes the “orphaning” of earlier standards as late adopters choose a dominant platform that becomes incompatible with the earlier one. As a result, vendors of comple- de Facto versus de Jure standards mentary products stop supporting the earlier standard. Once a standard is adopted, competition between firms Network effects exist in many industries. However, standards moves from between standards (e.g., Mac versus PC) to are often arrived at through negotiation rather than through com- a battle within them (e.g., Compaq versus Dell).