Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/104521 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper No. 2010-05 [rev.]
Publisher: 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Fakultät für Betriebswirtschaft, München
Abstract: 
The introduction of a new product generation forces incumbents in network industries to rebuild their installed base to maintain an advantage over potential entrants. We study if backward compatibility moderates this process of rebuilding an installed base. Using a structural model of the U.S. market for handheld game consoles, we show that backward compatibility lets incumbents transfer network effects from the old generation to the new to some extent but that it also reduces supply of new software. We examine the tradeoff between technological progress and backward compatibility and find that backward compatibility matters less if there is a large technological leap between two generations. We subsequently use our results to assess the role of backward compatibility as a strategy to sustain market leadership.
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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