Politics of Open Standards, Modular Innovation, and the Geography of Strategic Patenting in GSM and UMTS Technologies

Henrik Glimstedt, Institute of International Business, Stockholm School of Economics

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 2000)

Our puzzle starts from a particular tendency in mobile voice- and data communications technology, namely that innovation in European mobile communication standards is continuous with frequent introduction radical innovations and that new firms tends to enter the industry. Not only are new firms entering this particular business, but innovation seems come from multiple geographical sources and without a clear tendency towards geographical concentration. In short: our empirical evidence suggests that the industry moves towards horizontal specialization without one 'sticky' geographical centre in the global world of 'slippery' relations. In fact, the evidence presented here suggests that mobile technology develops with several geographical centres, which appear to be coordinated through standard developing organizations at the global level. (Glimstedt 2001; Glimstedt 2003; for a similar argument on computer technology, see Saxenian 2002)