Analysis of the Office Equipment Market and the Possibility of a New Company Entering the Market - Dissertation Example

The technologies and resources available to the first movers and early entrants render this a closed market in the sense that it is unlikely to absorb new entrants. An application of the resource-based view of the firm confirms this hypothesis.The dissertation, however, finds that while the opportunities for new entrants in the referenced market are limited, they do exist. Quite simply stated, should the first-movers cease their continued drive towards innovation, thus, leaving a gap in the market, new firms can enter.

They, however, can only do so if they have timed their innovations to coincide with the mentioned gap.As the study concludes, the opportunities for new entrants are far and few between and, indeed, their chances for success are minimal at best, considering resource variances between them and the early entrants. The fact remains, however, that such opportunities exist with the key being innovation and product timing.To those from without the industry, the office equipment market appears to be a highly lucrative one.

Indeed, as several market researchers have remarked, the profits which the printer, copier and facsimile machines’ market appears to promise seems to beckon new market players to enter this particular industry and market sector (Herbig & Kramer, 1994; Elliot, 2005; Ruffo, Tuck, and Hague, 2007). Irrespective of appearances, however, and notwithstanding the size of the market, there is no room for new players as this is a first-mover market in which the odds are stacked against new entrants.

As noted by several market analysts and marketing scholars, innovation is the key to survival within this market and, due to that, the market status of its key players (Xerox, IBM, Ricoh, Canon, Kyocera-Mita, and HP) is virtually untouchable (Clarke, 2000).Proceeding for the above-stated, it is apparent that professional and academic opinion tends towards the contention that the office equipment market is not open to new players; that there is no room for new players within this market.