Proprietary standardisation in consortia — the case of the Symbian alliance

Fabrice Coulon, Division of Innovation. Lund Institute of Technology

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 5/13/2004)

Standardisation has always been very important and this is reflected by the large amount of literature available on this topic. However, during the last decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of SDOs, in the number of standards issued by them and simultaneously,in the number of standard-based consortia, especially in ICTs. Not only have we observed an increase in the number of standards but also an extension of their variety. Moreover, the time intervals for their production are becoming shorter. Today, the majority of standards in ICTs are adopted during, and sometimes before, product design, i.e., they are anticipatory standards. This research aims to shed light on the relationship between standardisation in market-driven consortia and the evolution of a technology under constraints imposed by highly turbulent markets. We analyze the strategic logic of such standardisation consortia based on an in-depth case study of the Symbian Alliance. In contrast with the predicted emergence of a dominant design corresponding to the transition from the fluid to the specific phase of an industry, the members of a consortium might be able to maintain the industry in the fluid phase, because of the pressure imposed by fast changing market in addition to several technological issues. This might be accomplished by generating a broad range of enabling standards, which creates opportunities for incremental and platform innovations and contributes to open new markets at a continuous rate.