First-movers have the advantage of achieving a loyal customer base and accessing distribution channels. First-movers with innovative advantages have huge potential to achieve substantial economies of scale, and therefore create a barrier to entry in an untraditional sense. The barrier is created when competitors cannot acquire the customer base or scale economies necessary to meet their required rate of return.
Some people disagree with the first-mover advantage.
She sites Microsoft v. Apple, Amazon v. Cdnow, and IBM v. Big Blue as examples of her views. In all cases the first movers have since all but disappeared. First-movers need to be able to manage themselves in a growing industry, without losing sight of their objectives. The University of Oklahoma explicitly disclaims any legal liability for the contents of this page or information accessible from this page. Web pages are provided as a privilege to OU students to enhance their life long learning experience, and the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the institution or its student body.