Pioneering entrepreneurs often prove a concept can work, only to see large companies come into the market after them to pick up the profits. First - mover advantage was the rallying cry of the dotcom light brigade as it charged into apparently new markets. Companies, it was thought, had to move as fast as possible to make their products ubiquitous and their market position unassailable. That does not always mean being first .
Business history is littered with companies that conquered markets by coming in second.
But while EMI had hugely valuable technology, it lacked manufacturing capability for medical equipment and had no knowledge of the largest market, the US, where it was better known for its association with the Beatles. Moreover, the CT scanner was easy to imitate. The first competing products were on the market only three years after EMI had launched. Instead of teaming up with partners that could provide manufacturing and marketing clout, EMI tried to go it alone. It soon lost its lead to a highly capable competitor, the US company General Electric.