Patterns of Competition in Emerging Industries: Lessons Learned from the Early Automobile Industry

An investigation of the early automobile industry reveals patterns of competition and economic forces that may be found in other industries spawned by discontinuous innovations. The paper includes a discussion of the influx of competitors, the shakeout, the development of an industry standard, as well as endogenous and exogenous factors that influenced competitor success and failure. It includes propositions and suggestions for future research to look for these patterns in other emerging industries spawned by discontinuous innovations.