The Mobile Handset Industry in Transition: The PC Industry Revisited? Understanding the drivers of dynamic change and implications for firm strategy

Abstract This article supports and extends upon other scholars’ examinations of the evolution of technological modularity, vertical specialization and the concepts of the drivers of change in the basis of competition through an analysis of the evolution of the mobile handset industry. It is the thesis of this article that the mobile handset industry value chain is in the process of deconstructing towards more horizontally stratified structures for some device segments. But unlike the PC industry, an industry which some researchers suggest provides a precedent for likely evolution of the mobile handset value chain, this trend will not be uniform or consistent across different product types. This will require mobile phone manufacturers to adapt their organisational structures and value chain approaches accordingly, and to rethink the basis for future competitive advantage. Keywords: Deconstruction, vertical integration, modularity, technological change, mobile phone, cellular phone JEL Classifications:

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