Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP3935 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details   |   Bibliographic Reference

Full Details

Title: Surviving a Standards War: Lessons Learned from the Life and Death of DIVX

Author(s): David Dranove and Neil Gandal

Publication Date: June 2003

Keyword(s): network effects and standards war

Programme Area(s): Industrial Organization

Abstract: In April 1997, a consortium of hardware manufacturers and movie studios launched the DVD format. By that fall, electronics retailing giant Circuit City announced its intentions to launch a partially incompatible format known as DIVX. This Paper assesses Circuit City?s strategy to establish the dominant standard for digital video technology. We identify several key principles that any firm must consider when deciding how to compete in a market with evolving standards. We argue that virtually all of these factors weighed in against Circuit City, so that its effort was destined to fail.

For full details and related downloads, please visit: https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=3935

Bibliographic Reference

Dranove, D and Gandal, N. 2003. 'Surviving a Standards War: Lessons Learned from the Life and Death of DIVX'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=3935