Market strategy and product innovation starting from low-end orientation: lessons from a Japanese Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME)

摘要

The basis of product and technological development in the Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) is that there is at least to some extent an obvious market need when the development theme is set. Taking up the case of RF SYSTEM Lab, an SME established in Nagano Prefecture in 1993, this paper analyses its product innovation and market strategy. RF SYSTEM Lab is a venture company which designs, develops and manufactures wireless Charge Couple Device (CCD) cameras. RF SYSTEM Lab is an enterprise that accounts for 85% of the global market in the cordless dental mouth camera. The enterprise has established an approach to product innovation and commercialisation in a typical SME, and has unique sales strategies. In this paper, the importance of core-technology-centred development in SMEs and the process of actualising ideas will also be clarified, and the success factors will be proposed in a summary.