electronrun.com

This post is a direct result of recent rumours in several blogs that state that Intel’s Penryn chips might appear later in the market than originally projected because AMD currently has a very weak product line and is not a threat even for Intel’s current CPU models! Of course Intel has the last word in this, but even the rumour is enough to make me think that there are cases when users do not receive the freshest technology developments as they become available at company R&D departments. For this to happen, the particular company must be the absolute leader in its market, the undisputed number one. Here is some examples:

• Intel obviously. It dominates computer CPUs for ages now.
• Canon in photographic cameras.
• Microsoft in operating systems.
• Apple in portable music devices and music downloads.

So apart from market share how do you judge that a company is in such a strong position?

• A undisputed market leader can weather relatively long periods of stronger competition, simply because consumers have brand faith and this unexplained feeling that their hard earned cash buys good quality and guaranteed support. If Intel wasn’t in this position, it would never manage to come unscathed before the Core 2 Duo generation when AMD was cheaper, faster and with lower power consumption.
• New product releases are so far ahead from the competition. Although the comment might be judged as provocative by Nikon lovers, here I will take Canon as an example. Its full frame sensors have reached 21 Mp, when the D3, Nikon’s first full frame camera only has 12 Mp. Of course we all know that resolution is not all the game, far from that indeed, but when Canon has brought to market the 1Ds in 2002 it is a classical show of superiority…
• It can be afforded by a company to delay a product to market by a significant amount of time. Here Microsoft’s Longhorn is a classical example. Its market position allowed a delay of years and when the product finally arrived in our hands it did not have all the planned features. So what happened in the market? Two things, either Windows users stick with XP for the long term or wait for Vista’s service pack 1…
• Consistent world presence and support is another great sign. Here software and in particular Microsoft and Google are great examples. They have a presence in every conceivable language and extend their support all the time.

Life of course cannot be easy for ever for any company. In the technological universe things move briskly and there are two main ways to reach a healthy balance:

1. A company releases a revolutionary line of products and the market wakes up! The iPod was such a case and in fact was so successful that it has now become the dominant player!
2. The absence of competition is circumvented by the technological development itself. It already happens with the MS Office suite. Online applications are slowly changing the game and even if Microsoft came up with the best online suite it is so easy to try online apps and switch from one to another that I do not think that this field could be dominated by a single player again.

So what does all this mean for us consumers? In certain areas we need more market competition that’s what it means! Are Linux, non-DRM multimedia and open source software the answers? Maybe, maybe not, but I have to say that for 2008 and beyond I am optimistic. The internet and the world marketplace are currently incredibly energetic and exciting. Here is to more competition, wherever it comes from!