Merage School of Business, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America.
Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York, New York, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 May 14;19(5):e0300522. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300522. eCollection 2024.
The Internet of Things (IoT) technology trend is transforming business and society. This creates a need to understand strategic behavior in the consumer IoT, where firms tend to offer multiple platform devices, and new generations of devices are introduced frequently. We propose a novel analytical model that formalizes the concept of a multiplatform firm that offers a system of platforms, such as a smartphone, and a new platform device, such as a smartwatch, and orchestrates a multiplatform ecosystem. The analysis shows how a platform design decision, like offering a new standalone device, affects consumer choices and market outcomes. We identify two classes of new devices that matter, and show when a new platform device may disrupt the smartphone market. Moreover, we characterize conditions under which it is profitable for a vendor to make its new platform device look and feel more like its smartphone. Overall, we provide insights into how multiplatform firms differ from platform firms. We identify future research opportunities on the economics of consumer IoT and multiplatform ecosystems.
物联网（IoT）技术趋势正在改变商业和社会。这就需要了解消费者物联网中的战略行为，在消费者物联网中，企业往往提供多种平台设备，并且经常推出新一代设备。我们提出了一种新颖的分析模型，该模型形式化了提供平台系统（如智能手机）和新型平台设备（如智能手表）的多平台公司的概念，并协调了多平台生态系统。该分析表明，像提供新的独立设备这样的平台设计决策如何影响消费者的选择和市场结果。我们确定了两类重要的新设备，并展示了何时新型平台设备可能会破坏智能手机市场。此外，我们还描述了供应商使新型平台设备在外观和感觉上更像其智能手机的盈利条件。总体而言，我们深入了解了多平台公司与平台公司的不同之处。我们确定了有关消费者物联网和多平台生态系统经济学的未来研究机会。
