Examples of second to market being more successful than 1st

[Partial]

What are some examples of products where the company that does the R&D and puts out a new product first is outshined by the company who develops a similiar product, improves it slightly, and saves a boatload on R&D?

[Cheesehead Craig]

I'd go with VHS and Beta. Beta came out first but after just a few years, VHS had the market dominated.

[mraynrand]

Mighty Putty has far outshined Silly Putty

Sprite crushed 7-up.

Obama one-upped Powell

Apple whipped Commodore 64.

[BallHawk]

Blu-Ray beat out HD-DVD even though their release dates were only a few months apart and production was simultaneous.

[Freak Out]

Astro Glide has clear market dominance over KY even though KY has been around much longer. Ok...I'm not sure about it...I just wanted to try and turn another thread towards the fag realm.

[mraynrand]

Astro Glide

I always thought this had something to do with the dog from the Jetsons.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

I'd go with VHS and Beta. Beta came out first but after just a few years, VHS had the market dominated.

Poor example as Beta was superior.

[red]

well you have things like coke and pepsi and diet coke and diet pepsi

i just read an article about this not to long ago, and i completely forget what some of the brands were

lite beers also was one of them. i think it was miller that did it first while bud sat back and watched to see if it would work, then they swept in and took the market

[3irty1]

How about Rock Band? It basically took the next step from Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution.

[Zool]

How about Rock Band? It basically took the next step from Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution.

Ahh but the caveat with that one is Harmonix actually created Guitar Hero then sold it to Activision.

[Patler]

Re: Examples of second to market being more successful than

What are some examples of products where the company that does the R&D and puts out a new product first is outshined by the company who develops a similiar product, improves it slightly, and saves a boatload on R&D?

I don't think things like Beta/VHS really answer your question, do they? These were competing, but different technologies, each developed at great expense. Same with the various beverages. Each has their own separately developed formulation. One may have identified a potential market before the other, but the second did not build on the R&D success of the first.

Some industrial processes, such as the paper industry, have better examples of what I think you are interested in. One company spent years and great expense to overcome obstacles that long existed. Once that company shows the others how to do it, sometimes the others end up taking what they learn from the first and doing it even better.

This is sort of what the generic drug industry is all about, not necessarily with a better product, but a cheaper one. The research drug companies can have hundreds of millions invested in the R&D necessary to identify, formulate, test and obtain approval for a drug to treat a specific ailment. Sometimes the drug itself is not difficult or expensive to manufacture. Other companies can come to market much more cheaply, not having the underlying R&D expenses to recover.

[MadScientist]

1-2-3 out did VisiCalc, and in turn was outdone by Excel.
Likewise Word outdid Wordstar.

The Wrath of Kahn was better than The Motion Picture.

[mraynrand]

Re: Examples of second to market being more successful than

What are some examples of products where the company that does the R&D and puts out a new product first is outshined by the company who develops a similiar product, improves it slightly, and saves a boatload on R&D?

I don't think things like Beta/VHS really answer your question, do they? These were competing, but different technologies, each developed at great expense. Same with the various beverages. Each has their own separately developed formulation. One may have identified a potential market before the other, but the second did not build on the R&D success of the first.

Some industrial processes, such as the paper industry, have better examples of what I think you are interested in. One company spent years and great expense to overcome obstacles that long existed. Once that company shows the others how to do it, sometimes the others end up taking what they learn from the first and doing it even better.

This is sort of what the generic drug industry is all about, not necessarily with a better product, but a cheaper one. The research drug companies can have hundreds of millions invested in the R&D necessary to identify, formulate, test and obtain approval for a drug to treat a specific ailment. Sometimes the drug itself is not difficult or expensive to manufacture. Other companies can come to market much more cheaply, not having the underlying R&D expenses to recover.

Standing on the shoulders of giants (leaves me cold).

[Tyrone Bigguns]

1-2-3 out did VisiCalc, and in turn was outdone by Excel.
Likewise Word outdid Wordstar.

The Wrath of Kahn was better than The Motion Picture.

Fuck wordstar and word...AmiPro all the way!!!

[Patler]

1-2-3 out did VisiCalc, and in turn was outdone by Excel.
Likewise Word outdid Wordstar.

The Wrath of Kahn was better than The Motion Picture.

Fuck wordstar and word...AmiPro all the way!!!

I learned on AmiPro. It was more intuitive than any other. Its "Help" used words and phrases that regular people use. I loved it.