The purpose of this thesis is to examine the process and the prospect of standardization of the storage media technologies focused on digital video disc(DVD). In DVD technology, standards have been emerged with drastic changes. In order to prospect the direction of standardization, in-depth case studies are needed to examine the histories and processes of standardardization from VCR to DVD. The study of standardization in storage media technologies needs longitudinal perspectives and close examination on the past strategies. In this viewpoint, the thesis deals with the technological development and standardization process from VCR to DVD.
This thesis is primarily focused on following research questions.
1) How has the standardization processed in storage media technologies, and what are the issues in DVD standardization competition, and what are the factors in featuring standardization process?
2) When can the high technology overcome the chasm and how can these technologies/products succeed in the emerging market?
3) What is the entering strategy and the future prospect of storage media industry?
To answer the above questions, an in-depth case study on the standardization process in DVD are carried out. The results include as follows :
This thesis reviewed the related literatures, such as characteristics of high technology, strategic alliance, strategic management of technology with respect to standardization. Through literature review, it becomes clear that three main factors influence the standardization process in storage media technology. At first, the dominant design and compatibility affect the standardization competition, and the winner of this competition can get the de-facto standard position. Especially, the dominant design and compatibility were the determinant factors of the CD standardization process. Sony and Philips which introduced CD to the market made their own standard book at any CD family. With this, they guaranteed compatibility to any manufactures. This result reflects the aspect of market and technology.
Secondly, the technology fusion and industry incorporation are very important factors in directing the standardization competition. The standardization is not optimization but satisfaction through unification process of industries and technologies. Hollywood and computer industry which are the first consumer of DVD have been influencing the standardization process greatly. And technology fusion such as optoelectronics, mechatronics, and optomechanics have been applied to DVD development process in order to achieve the desired performance of DVD. But unfortunately, it is not easy for one company to have all the technology for developing DVD. So, many companies which have their own contribution involve the standardization process.
The third factor is the strategic alliance. In the VCR, CD, and DVD standardization proccesses, it have had a great role. Especially in VCR case, it was the decisive factor to determine the standard of VCR. Sony had the better technological capability than JVC, but Sony could not get the standard posion in VCR because of the failure of the strategic alliance.
In conclusion, the standardization of the high technology such as storage media technolgies is the key success factor in achieving competitive advantages in the market. The standardization should give the satisfaction to the consumer, with respect to this point, the standardization of storage media technology will be processed in the near future.
The charteristics of the multimedia industry is integrated digital information and two-way communication. This paper investigated only the storage media technololgy which is based on integrated digital information. In order to investigate the multimedia industry completely, two-way communication should be related with the integrated digital information in the future.
