technology and strategyweb.mit.edu/mamd/www/tech_strat/coursematerial/topics/...2009/03/09 · zink...
TRANSCRIPT
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Technology and Strategy Polaroid Michael A M Davies 9 March 2009
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Even when incumbents anticipate disruption and respond, cognitive limitations may doom them
• Polaroid was the leader in instant photography – 23% pa sales, 17% profit growth late ‘40s to late ’70s
• A technology-driven company – belief that long-term, large-scale research enables great
products, great products create their own market – endogeneous demand, little need for or value in
conventional market research • Believed in consumables
– “What’s the business model? It’s the razor/blade … so we make money with the film”
– “… in the photographic business, all the money is in the software [film], none of it is in the hardware…”
Mary Tripsas and Giovannit Gavetti “Capabilities, Cognition and Inertia: Evidence from Digital Imaging”,� Strategic Management Journal, 2000, pages 1147-1161
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 2
15.965 Technology & Strategy
SX-70: eight and half years, $500 million
• Launched in 1972 • First instant SLR (Single Lens
Reflex) camera • new integral print film • Later models had sonar
autofocus, the first autofocus SLRs available to consumers
• (Film discontinued in early ‘06) • (Austrian firm now makes film)
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 3
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Strong intellectual property position protected value capture
• Monopoly until ‘76 • Kodak enters • Polaroid forces Kodak out by ‘85 • Kodak pays $925 million in damages in ‘91
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 4
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Polaroid is initially successful at developing technologies, but fails at product development
• ’81 digital imaging group • ’86 microelectronics lab • “..orientation was
‘technical challenge’ – we can do it.”
• By 1989 >40% of R&D spend on digital imaging
• Major technological breakthroughs
• By ’96, 66% of R&D • ‘93 sells microelectronics
lab to MIT
• BUT few successful new products
– Helios – Printer in the Field – PDC-2000 not ‘til ’96
• As of 1997, >90% of revenue from established products
• Digital imaging has lost $120-130 million
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 5
15.965 Technology & Strategy
“At Polaroid, More Than Snapshots”
• “The most distinctive new product is the Helios Laser Imaging System. Under development for more than seven years, Helios can produce medical images from ultrasound systems and sophisticated diagnostic scanners in 90 seconds; conventional photographic methods can take several more minutes to yield pictures that are usually not as sharp. The Helios system relies on a laser camera and digital computerized pictures. It will sell for $35,000, with its film costing about $1 a sheet.”
• “Sheldon A. Buckler, vice chairman at Polaroid, predicts that Helios will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr. Henderson, the analyst, predicts sales of at least $200 million by 1994. and Polaroid has already demonstrated a color version of its Helios film. But Helios systems will not be widely available until well into 1992, while Polaroid will be paying off the development costs for several more years.”
New York Times, 11th June 1991
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 6
15.965 Technology & Strategy
PDC-2000
• Price ~$3,000 to $5,000 • “…a new breed of digital
camera that combines professional quality and affordability. … If you've been waiting for digital cameras to mature, the PDC-2000 marks a clear jump from infancy to adolescence…”
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 7
15.965 Technology & Strategy
The latest installment in the story…
• “Polaroid wants to conjure up [its] golden analog days of vast sales and instant gratification — this time with images captured by digital cameras and camera phones. This fall, the company expects to market a hand-size printer that produces color snapshots in about 30 seconds.
• Inside…a novel kind of paper embedded with microscopic layers of dye crystals
• The paper is the creation of former Polaroid employees…spun off as a separate company, Zink Imaging in 2005”
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 8
New York Times, Sunday 13th April 2008
15.965 Technology & Strategy
…but success depends not just on the technology, but the system and the ecosystem
“To encourage Apple to become compatible with the Polaroid Pogo printer, we are asking iPhone owners to submit an enhancement request form at the following link and to express their interest for better Bluetooth transfer capabilities including OPP profile so they can print to the Polaroid Pogo printer.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
Thanks in advance for your help!”
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 April 2008, Page 9
http://www.zink.com 30th January 2009
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Dell Wasabi™ PZ310 Ultra-Mobile ZINK™ Printer
..and on 10th February 2009
The Wasabi™ creates 2"x3" wallet-size, full-color ZINK™
prints in under a minute. Compatible with Bluetooth-enabled* camera phones,
digital cameras and mobile PCs, the Wasabi makes the
perfect travel companion for capturing and sharing
moments, anytime, anywhere.
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 April 2008, Page 10
http://venturebeat.com/2009/02/10/dell-uses-zink-imaging-to-create-an-ink-free-mobile-printer/ accessed 5 March 09
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Now, Back to the Future
• “He was never on time for his classes…
• He wasn’t in time for his dinner…
• Then one day he wasn’t in his time at all.”
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 April 2008, Page 11
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 April 2008, Page 12
“The Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera is an integrated fully-featured digital camera and ZINK printer designed for portable one-step printing anywhere. Powered by ZINK™ Technology, this digital version of Polaroid's iconic instant camera allows consumers to capture, view, crop, add borders, AND print their memories in less than 60 seconds. The Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera will be available at retailers beginning in March 2009”
15.965 Technology & Strategy
Response to transition – whether your survive or thrive – ultimately depends on four key factors
Michael A M Davies [email protected] 9 March 2009, Page 13
Technological infrastructure and innovation –
explicit and tacit component and architectural knowledge
Business model and business ecosystem -
your chosen niche and target customers, its business model
and hence how you make money
Demand opportunity - who your customers are and
what they want Your mental models - beliefs about the
future, about how to make money,
reflected in your communication
channels, information filters
and search and problem-solving
strategies