Platform strategies, managing multisided platforms

10 important questions on Platform strategies, managing multisided platforms

What is technological dominance?

Competitors' designs fail to catch up with the dominant design and decide to withdraw from the market. The dominant design has achieved clear market share advantage over the other designs.

What are two-sided platform markets?

Markets in which one or several platforms enable interactions between two or multiple user groups. These markets try to get these groups on board by appropriately charging and governing users on each side of the platform.

What are the three elements of two-sided platform markets? Give a concrete example.

  • Platform
  • Complementors
  • End-users


Magazine example: Platform = Magazine, Complementors = Advertisers, End-users = Readers.
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When can you describe a platform as being (wholly) open?

If no restrictions are placed on participation in its development, commercialization or use. Any restrictions are applied uniformly to all potential platform participants.

When to open a platform architecture? And when not?

Open when:
  • Market is too large to cater by single firm
  • Participants can offer valuable innovations/diversity
  • (Innovative) New entrants need to be deterred

Do not open when:
  • Platform lacks appropriability mechanisms
  • If platform owner has a clear technological trajectory in mind

Name the dominance factors for both the firm-level and environmental-level.

Firm level:
  • Technological superiority
  • Complementary assets & credibility
  • Strategic manoeuvring
  • Size of installed base

Environmental level:
  • Regulation
  • Network effect & Switching costs
  • Appropriability regime
  • Characteristics of tech. field

What are the milestones towards achieving technological dominance?

  1. Pioneer starts doing applied R&D to develop commercial product
  2. Appearance of first working prototype
  3. Launching of first commercial product
  4. Presence of clear front-runners
  5. Achieving market dominance

How can you ensure platform success?

  1. Get your pricing right: subsidize quality- and price-sensitive users while securing 'marquee' users' exclusive participation in your platform
  2. Cope with winner-takes-all competition
  3. Avoid envelopment

How do indirect network effects in the product cycle of video games work?

Value of the console (hardware) increases with the variety of game titles (software). This variety increases with the total number of console owners.

What should the pricing strategy of platform providers in the gaming industry look like?

As the price elasticy at introduction is high, platform providers should use penetration pricing for their console to establish an installed base. Later, as price elasticy decreases, the price of hardware/consoles can be increased. However, as software price elasticity remains high, platform providers should encourage software entry to expand their installed base.

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