Evoluzione del grado di apertura delle piattaforme software e della platform leadership in un settore platform-based

Over the last years, industry platforms have become central to the development and competitive dynamics of several industries. In an attempt to contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of platform-based industries, we focus on the smartphone operating systems industry to investigate how the degree of control and openness of the platform has changed over time and whether the evolutionary dynamics of platform competition at the industry level have led to a stable platform leadership or to the coexistence of several competing platforms. Our longitudinal analysis shows that, over the last twenty years, a shift has occurred, in the governance of software platforms for smartphones, from an approach based on tight legal control and on rather closed and hierarchical knowledge development methods to a more open approach, characterized by shared knowledge development processes involving large numbers of actors. Moreover, we offer evidence of a highly dynamic platform competition characterized by continuous change, which over time has led to the failure of the incumbent platforms and to an 'unbalanced duopoly’ between two newcomer platforms, lead by Google and Apple respectively.