Disruptive Technologies

Q1: After reading the articles and the case, what does "disruptive technology" mean to you? What are the principles behind it? How can you determine whether a technology is disruptive or not?

Disruptive technology is technology that brings about attributes that are different from what the users are predominantly following at present. These attributes do not attract the users initially as the user mind is resistant to immediate change. Users tend to use performance attributes that they are already familiar with in various applications.

Disruptive technology promotes the emergence of new markets attracting established firms into rethinking their stance on these new emerging attributes. It also involves considerable amount of investment and efforts for developing and marketing it to the user. Once, it has its market share it grows exponentially using limited efforts. Disruptive technology does not have immediate profitability.  Long term implications/ramifications can be hugely profitable to a firm if dealt with the right channels of marketing and research.

A disruptive technology as the name suggests would not follow the prevalent standards set by industries. Identifying a disruptive technology can be done by instigating a debate between different groups over focusing their efforts on new technologies. Internal disagreements based on disparate incentives can indicate a disruptive technology that the managerial team can research about. Also, disruptive technology can be determined by plotting its performance function with respect to time. If its initial level lies well below the trajectory of a sustaining technology in the current market, but its future expected performance trajectory slope exceeds that of the sustained technology, it can be identified as a disruptive technology.

Q2. Analyze Nintendo's disruptive strategy in detail. What are the main features of this strategy that have made the Wii such an overwhelming success?

What made Nintendo a break away success was its ability to think out of the box rather than follow norms which would have handicapped its growth in the video game market. When Sony and Microsoft aimed at a narrow customer base, Nintendo ventured out into the non- gamer market. It aimed at simplicity in terms of gameplay and user interaction targeting all age groups. The Wii was successful in getting the whole family involved with the simplicity it offered. Wii also helped expand “exergaming”, which was the combination of on-screen action with physical exercise.