Week 3

Complements and
Cooperation I
Examples
 Competitors as Complementors
In certain situations, firms may be

Competitors in part of the market

Complementors in another part of the market

In such a constellation, they may not compete that harshly

 Music Players & Music Content
Sony and Apple
Competitors
Both sell portable music players
Complementors
Sony Music provides music content for Apples iPod / iPhone
Apples iTunes store is important sales
platform for Sonys music content
 Mobile Phone Calls
Vodafone and T-Mobile
Competitors
Both sell mobile phone contracts
Complementors
Their networks are interlinked
Customers join Vodafone because they know that they can also call
T-Mobile customers, and vice versa
Parts of Vodafones / T-Mobiles revenues
come from these cross-network calls
Competitive Strategy
Tobias Kretschmer
Professor of Management, LMU Munich

2013 LMU Munich