Mobile Computing: The Next Platform Rivalry

Competition to become one of several dominant mobile platforms is intense. Platforms compete for developers, who create applications which make the platform valuable for users. Why doesn't one form of platform governance emerge as superior? This essay will stress the reasons for differentiation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe American economic review Vol. 104; no. 5; pp. 475 - 480
Main Authors Bresnahan, Timothy, Greenstein, Shane
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Nashville American Economic Association 01.05.2014
Subjects
Competition
Computational methods
Computing platforms
Corporate governance
Corporate sponsorship
Distribution channels
Economic competition
Economic theory
Economics
ECONOMICS OF THE INTERNET AND MOBILE COMPUTING
Governance
Hierarchy
Industrial market
Internet
Inventions
Leadership
Mobile communications networks
Mobile devices
Search engines
Smartphones
Software
Studies
Suppliers
Technological innovation
Telecommunications industry
Tradeoffs
Vertical integration
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Summary:Competition to become one of several dominant mobile platforms is intense. Platforms compete for developers, who create applications which make the platform valuable for users. Why doesn't one form of platform governance emerge as superior? This essay will stress the reasons for differentiation and proposes a new argument linked to a platform's “hierarchy.” Hierarchical governance features can help at one moment but then get in the way at a later time. These arguments are illustrated by different approaches to platform governance taken by the major mobile platform sponsors of recent years.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.104.5.475