Industry Dynamics and Strategy Planning in the Mobile Telecommunication

Classical strategy may not always work because various industries are fairly different in many aspects. Therefore, companies need to carefully craft their business strategy style through a series of thoughtful analysis and assessment of industry factors, among which predictability and malleability are two most critical ones.

As a Master of Science in Information Technology – Mobility, I have been an intern in China Mobile, one of the biggest mobile telecommunication companies in China. It was a great opportunity for me to learn about the cutting-edge technology of mobile telecommunication and the development of the industry in China. Starting from 1980s, the first generation of wireless cellular technology, as known as 1G network, has emerged and been launch in the mobile telephony market all over the world. Nowadays, after more than 30 years, we are about to embrace the 5G technology in the near future. The data rate has increased from 2.4 Kbps to 300 Mbps. In general, the industry has undergone enormous changes. Even for scientists in the industry, it is difficult to predict the development of the mobile telecommunication technology. No one knows how fast it could be in the future and how many years it would take to move forward to the next generation technology. Hence, the technology trends of the industry of mobile telecommunication is unpredictable.

However, in terms of malleability, leading companies in the industry are powerful to change or redefine industry factors such as communities, standards and platforms. Unlike the oil industry where oil extraction technology has been relatively stable over time, the mobile telecommunication technology is still in the early stage where it could be renewed or upgraded in a relatively short period. Consequently, companies that succeed in developing next generation of mobile telecommunication technology or applying current technology in new field would have a say in the mobile telecommunication industry.

In conclusion, the industry of mobile telecommunication is unpredictable but malleable. Accordingly, the shaping strategy, a strategy in which the goal is to shape the unpredictable environment to its own advantage before someone else does, is most suitable for companies in this environment. There are many experiments with short planning cycles in companies under the shaping strategy. For example, Huawei, one of the biggest telecommunication equipment companies in China, completed the third phase of China 5G Technology R&D Trial in January 2019 and is preparing for 5G commercial trials and scale in 2020. The company has recruited thousands of telecommunication technology talents over years, which become its resources and advantages in the industry. It is trying to shape the industry by raising R&D budget to research and develop 5G technology and it would become the industry standard after 5G network is launched in China. In contrast, China Mobile shaped the industry in a different way, by leveraging its huge user base to explore the IoT market, to maintain its dominant status in the Chinese market.

“Huawei Takes the Lead in Completing China 5G Technology R&D Trial using 2.6GHz Spectrum.” January 17, 2019. https://www.huawei.com/us/press-events/news/2019/1/china-5g-technology-rd-trial-2dot6ghz-spectrum

“Evolution of wireless technologies 1G to 5G in mobile communication.” Rajiv. May 28, 2018. https://www.rfpage.com/evolution-of-wireless-technologies-1g-to-5g-in-mobile-communication/