The emerging role of Lead Users in the mobile industry

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a formal conceptualization of emerging mobile ecosystems as value-creation networks and characterize the role played by external developers, conceptualized as Lead Users (VonHippel 1986), in the evolution of these networks in the mobile industry. Based on quantitative data from a survey conducted between seasoned developers mediation models for panel data are built. The results are triangulated with semi-structured interviews and corporate data as reported by companies. The empirical study confirms that external developers are paramount to absorb external knowledge and transform it into knowledge of explicit nature and therefore of high value for other participants in the network. This paper finds evidence on the influence that external developers, conceptualized as Lead Users (VonHippel 1986), expert on firms’ ability to compete in the mobile industry.