Foresight into the Mobile Internet Game

摘要

Convergence of the mobile and Internet markets is taking place globally. US-based firms have been leading the development of Internet technology, and European firms the cellular (mobile) technology. Due to the convergence, the market space will be bigger, but it will be even harder to achieve or maintain a leading position. Instead of one standardized technology, the merging markets are facing each other's technologies disruptive to their business concepts. Mobility is a strong driver of change due to its great effect on the working procedures and business models of all firms. The game in the new forming market is played by players who have a good starting position, right skills and competencies, capability to reposition themselves, and good plans for alternative futures. Each alternative future contains a different competitive environment, for the firm and its business models to face. To manage the change from present markets to the future environment, firms need to have different options and different capabilities. They need to keep their "options open" when the uncertainty increases. In our previous work we have studied the present use and future application opportunities of wireless technologies in both ICT and paper industries, analyzed leading global ICT firms facing the challenges of the converging Mobile Internet market and created scenarios for future developments in paper and ICT industries. In this paper we apply resource-based view to combine the elements into one and propose a foresight for selected players in the future Mobile Internet market.