Archive for July 2010
Top 6 – July 2010
“What business are you in?” Theodore Levitt, 1925-2006. First to market doesn’t make you the winner, the best offering does. A growing population doesn’t ensure a growing market, an appropriate solution to a real problem does. Products rarely hold a market to itself, alternatives and substitutes always exist. The cheapest prices don’t guarantee market share,…
Read More Lessons from a Legend
A Tribute to Ted Levitt
The other day when I was looking trough the archived articles in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, I happened on a piece published on December 17, 2008 entitled ‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life.’ The author was Julia Hanna, associate editor (at the time) of the HBS Alumni Bulletin.
Read More Prices and Product Lifecycle – Must All Prices Fall?
An examination of Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Apple iPad
The classic product lifecycle theory predicts that prices fall as competitors enter. Well, do all prices fall? Similarly, many pundits like to talk about first-mover advantage. Well, does it really exist?
An examination of e-reader market demonstrates some serious flaws in a cursory acceptance of these premises. In this article, we look at the price and product evolution of the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, and Apple iPad to demonstrate some finer nuances of the product lifecycle.
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