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Photovoltaic technology is an interesting case study. Americans firms have pushed their way in thin-film technology, but are finding it difficult to scale up manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Chinese have invested heavily in reducing manufacturing cost of traditional technology. Though it is still early to understand which is the winning bet, it shows that it is not easy to make such far reaching choices

Short paper on Japanese attempts to introduce robotics into everyday life. The idea is to blend national competencies high-tech manufacturing) with national issues (i.e. an ageing population).

LCD-based devices are based on glass screens. Now an LCD supplier is developing plastic screens, allowing cheaper, lighter and more robust devices to be developed. This could be an interesting turning point for e-book readers, and is a nice example of the interplay between performance and diffusion. At the same time, it could become a disruptive element in the value chain, given greater bargaining power to the suppliers and taking it away from device manufacturers.

Success in business models often comes unexpected and generally is due to complementary products and services. For instance, the app store has been one of the main drivers behind the success of i-phones and has been widely imitated by other smartphone manufacturers. However, it appears that Apple hadn't viewed it as such an important element of its strategy at launch

3D visualization is probably going to become a disruptive innovation over the next few years. This is true for movies and TV sets, but also for gaming on both TV-based and hanheld devices. As usual, the question is whether the disruption will be at the level of device makers or for manufacturers of the component (i.e. screen).

Toyota's recent response to claims of unintended acceleration in its vehicles illustrates the potential pitfalls of today's technologically complex automobiles. Software development, however, is still largely stuck in a 1970s pre-kaizen mode, where the human-readable instructions are accessible only to those who write the code. This protects the intellectual property of the software developer, but it also limits the abilities of others in the value chain to "see something, say something, and do something" to correct flaws. The lack of visibility into the software in its cars stands in stark contrast to the openness of its management and manufacturing processes. The software hidden in Toyota's black boxes is the equivalent to having a car with its hood welded shut. Open source represents the most significant change and most disruptive force in software development in 20 years. In the open-source software model, the human-readable source code is distributed along with the computer-readable machine code. Users are encouraged to understand the code, find flaws, suggest fixes, and add functionality. Open source is about leveraging the power of participation to solve complex problems such as manufacturing, health care, and government. It may also be how Toyota can improve its vehicles and ultimately regain consumer trust.

It seems clear that cars are going to go electric ... but when and exactly based on which dominant design? Apart from this there is a huge issue related to time. While in high-tech change is very fast and there is a clear strategic case for being fast, this might not be true in "hard" manufacturing, where diffusion is likely to be slow and painful for early movers, and subject so a significant "sailing ship effect". 

In the past decades, most watchmakers have decided to source core parts from suppliers. This has led to the quasi-monopoly of the component manufacturer ETA, owned by the Swatch group. Now this strategy is backfiring, with ETA creating stricter conditions to its customers, the latter complaining about unfair business practices but fundamentally unable to find alternative strategies. As one executives states, "it's not ETA that has created a monopoly, but others, by not investing".

Interesting article on the coming technological paradigms, on the role that modularity will have within them, and on its implications on industrial policy. 

Mr. Joshi (the head of Hewlett-Packard's $24 billion printing empire) has spent years disputing the notion that people will print less as they do more on their hand-held devices. This week, he will see his ideas put into action as H.P. introduces a fleet of printers with Web access, their own e-mail addresses and touch screens. These products should open up new ways for people to print from Web services like Google Docs, and from smartphones and devices like the iPad from Apple. Mr. Joshi is going back to his roots as an engineer - as a young H.P. researcher, he figured out a way to make ink cartridges fire 45 million drops - and relying on new technologies, not slick marketing. But still, he will have to prove that customers will change their behavior and print more if given the right tools. That, Mr. Reitzes said, is crucial to how investors will evaluate the long-term prospects of H.P. "Investors are worried about printing," he said. "It's really important that they get this right." As the world's largest technology company, H.P. sells a wide variety of products but got much of its profit from printers and their pricey ink. More recently, H.P. has built up a large technology services arm as well, which has helped round out its business. But the printing division accounts for about a fifth of its revenue and a third of its profits. The new printers - which build on a limited experiment last year - will range in price from $99 to about $400. Every one will come with what H.P. executives billed as a breakthrough feature - its very own e-mail address. H.P.'s engineers hit on the e-mail address as an easy, familiar way for people to send print jobs to the Web-ready printers. You can, for example, take a photo with a phone, e-mail it to your printer's address and have the printout waiting for you at home. Or, you can share the printer's e-mail address with family and friends. This means that someone can buy Grandma a Web-ready printe

In an interview with PC Pro, the deputy president of Sony's VAIO Business Group, Ryosuke Akahane, has revealed that the company will soon be effectively splitting its laptop business into two distinct groups. The first, called "division one," will continue with laptops designed and built by Sony as before, but the second, or "division two," will rely on laptops built by other manufacturers. Those behind-the-scenes changes may not be readily apparent to consumers, however, as the so-called division two laptops will still carry the VAIO name, and will apparently have the same "taste of VAIO" and "style of VAIO," with Sony naturally first approving all third-party designs. "We need a certain market share. And if we don't have a certain market share, it's tough to survive"

Inventions sometimes remain dormant for decades. This is the case for Stirling engines, once considered a funny desktop gadget and now making a comeback because its peculiar features fit into an emerging market need.

Interestingly, Canon is changing its usual stance of focusing on its own core competencies. With its takeover offer of Océ, it aims to be a key player in the photocopier and printer industry. Quite different from its former approach of focusing on the inner engine of such products, selling or licensing it to other firms, and attempting some limited forward integration in order to avoid double marginalization. It is likely that Canon is recognizing that future value lies in services, and not simply in manufacturing