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November, 2009 - Vol 1, Issue 3 |
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| Dear Rick, |
In this edition of the Embedded Market Intelligence Newsletter we investigate "Selling into Disruptive Markets". We hope you enjoy the content and pass it on to your friends and colleagues. Please check out the new Embedded Market Intelligence Blog for some interesting discussions of current issues. If there's a topic you would like to see discussed in either the newsletter or the blog, please contact us.
Dr. Jerry Krasner
Embedded Market Forecasters |
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 The Cheshire cat said to Alice,
"if you don't know where you are going any road will get you there - and when
you get there, there's no there, there" - Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
The Cheshire
cat could have been talking to some embedded vendors.
Historically,
new and more forceful markets that redefine economic demand replace markets
that create economic downturns. Today we are at a transition point in our
economic recovery that will redefine markets, and we are currently witnessing an irrevocable
upheaval in the marketplace for software design and development tools,
components and services. There will be winners and losers. How then does an embedded
vendor mitigate against uncertainty and find direction? We believe that market
intelligence is the antidote to market uncertainty.
Let me suggest from the get-go that the true value of
market intelligence is to assist companies in recognizing emerging (and
disruptive) markets as they begin to crystallize. I hope that the following
will make my case and affect your thinking. Whether you are a developer, a
manager or a company executive, the survival and growth of your company is a
priority. It is sometimes difficult for those of us trained in science to
relate to non-deterministic market dynamics - yet, like it or not, we live in a
market driven world - not a technology driven one.
Competitive markets are defined and exploited by
matching product features to customer requirements. What is seldom recognized
is that when competitive products exceed what the market demands, customers can
no longer base their choice on which is the higher performing product.
This is when disruptive technologies take root,
only to emerge later when they completely change the product landscape.
Remember Hayes modems? Remember DEC/Compaq/HP? Remember Motorola Computer
Group? It happens to small companies all the time - we just don't read about
their demise. They all read a lot of self-serving market research (which
validated their view of the industry - not the realities) yet they are all gone
now.
I am shocked more than amused when vendors wishing
for me to write favorably about what their product can do fail to answer my
question of "what do your customers think they actually need?" I am usually
told that "once they see how cool our product is they will change their minds"
or "we ran this past a couple of our customers". Many, many moons ago in a
universe far away (that's 1969 for you young-ins) I built several medical
companies and I ran clinical research and marketing. Every time a physician
told me what he/she wanted I asked for a PO.
We got really good feedback that way.
I was recently at a breakfast which included very senior
industry representatives and industry analysts. I was given the opportunity to
set the initial discussion and I spoke to the challenges that major reductions
in DoD discretionary funding would create within the mil/aero marketplace. I
was politely ignored while others gushed about the exciting future for their
industry -offering glowing growth estimates as high as 20%.
As I was leaving a kind gentleman approached me and
said "Jerry, you won't sell any of your research if you continue to be so negative".
I was very taken back by the remark which he intended as a helpful hint. The
role of market intelligence is a two way street. The supplier and the user have
to have the same goals and define the appropriate questions that need to be
answered.
This brings me to the point of this discussion. The
real question that market intelligence needs to answer is how can vendors of
embedded products minimize risk while enhancing their prospects? And how does
solid market information support this?
The full analysis can be found in the Embedded Market Intelligence blog article.
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*New* Embedded Market Intelligence Blog
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Embedded Market Forecasters has launched a new blog to
keep up with the dynamic changes in technology and markets in the
embedded industry. Topics that we are looking to cover for you include: - Breaking news and what we and our colleagues think (for example
Intel's acquisition of Wind River, the Embedded Systems Conferences,
etc.)
- Medical device developments and how to best navigate the CDRH
(including the new medical device legislation working its way through
the US Senate).
Reduced DoD funding and where you can best find opportunities within a severely shrinking budget What your fellow developers and managers are reporting about their developments (for example what ARM developers report) The truth behind embedded security - what does MILS and EAL conformance really mean, and why FIPS 140-2 isn't being adopted
Please let us know if these topics are of interest and if we have missed any that can make your job easier. |
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New EMF Quick Survey |
 Embedded Market Forecasters would like your input! We've posted a new EMF Quick Survey
for your feedback and suggestions. If you have any ideas on topics you
would like to see covered either in articles, white papers or reports,
let use know. | |
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