Su-En Tan

Mobile communications: Europe, Japan and South Korea in a comparative perspective

This paper has two interrelated purposes. One is to provide an empirical overview of the developments of new mobile systems and services in Europe, Japan, and South Korea. The other is to examine the discussions regarding the possible explanations for the present lead that East Asia has in new mobile developments. The motivation for making a comparative analysis of mobile developments in Europe, Japan and South Korea is the fact that Japan and South Korea have taken the lead within mobile communications during the last few years, whereas Europe, and in particular the Nordic countries, was leading the way with GSM.

New Mobile Technologies: Sustaining or Disruptive?

This paper takes a look at Clayton Christensen s theory of disruptive technologies and how Christensens theory relates to other innovation theories. It also proposes a new layer of analysis to this theory to better link the technology analysis to the market analysis of any given technology product. This layer suggests that complementarity and substitutability are important criteria for technologies to be market disruptions or sustaining changes.