12. In the electronic era, the components were made by
semiconductor firms such as Rockwell and Fairchild.
13. And calculators were no longer sold in special stores by
firms maintaining strong relationships to business customers
customers.
Instead, they were sold in bookstores, or by discount
retailers, who could cope with the ever-growing volumes.
14. As a consequence the barriers to entry were very low So
consequence, low.
while the market grew and consumers got better and better
products each year, firm after firm collapsed.
15. The early 1970s are therefore often referred to as ’The Great
Calculator War’ where entrants flooded the market with
War’,
calculators and most of them went out of business, with
Sharp and a few other companies as notable exceptions.
16. Firms tend to enter growing
industries in a Klondike
manner, but the outcome is
often modest, simply
because others are doing
precisely the same thing.
17. Christian Sandström wrote
his PhD on technological
discontinuities and the
challenges they present
for firms.
He writes and speaks
about disruptive
innovation and
technological change.
More about Christian and his research:
www.christiansandstrom.org