Incumbents vs. Challengers: A Detailed Business Strategy Report

This report delves into the competitive dynamics between incumbent companies and challengers, exploring the reasons behind the shift in market dominance. It identifies Blackberry Limited as an incumbent and Apple Inc. as a challenger, examining the factors that contribute to challengers' success. The report analyzes various reasons for incumbents' decline, including the ability of challengers to leverage disruptive technologies and adapt to changing consumer preferences. It highlights the role of technological innovation, including the impact of disruptive technologies on both companies. The analysis covers the importance of innovation, market adaptation, and the consequences of failing to evolve. The report concludes by summarizing the key insights and arguments presented, offering a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the modern business landscape.

Why incumbents are
being beaten by
challengers in
business?

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY.......................................................................................................................................2
Identify one incumbent and challenger in business............................................................................2
Explain several reasons why incumbents are being beaten by challengers in detail..........................3
Why challengers beat the incumbents................................................................................................4
Explain the reasons for incumbents being beaten by challenger........................................................5
Role of technological innovation including disruptive technologies and how these technological
innovations have impacted these businesses (both incumbent and challenger)..................................5
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Incumbent is the organisations which have leading market position as well as they are
powerful existing players within an arena. In addition to this, organisations which are
incumbents are also tend to have better visibility, access to resources as well as more
experience. On the other hand, challengers are the new competitors who try for gaining
market shares within competitive business environment.
In this report, incumbent is Blackberry Limited which launched in 1999 on 19th
January which was 21 years ago. On the other hand, challenger is Apple Inc. who is
American multinational technology company founded in 1976. Respective report will be
going to discuss several reasons that why incumbents are being beaten by challengers along
with this, challengers beat the incumbents. Moreover, why challengers beat the incumbents as
well as reasons for incumbents being beaten through challenger. In addition to this, role of
technological innovation including disruptive technologies and how these technological
innovations have impacted these businesses (both incumbent and challenger). End section
will discuss many reasons which support argument by comparing incumbent and challenger.
MAIN BODY
Identify one incumbent and challenger in business
Incumbent – They are the companies which have leading market position as well as
they are powerful existing players within an arena. In addition to this, organisations which are
incumbents are also tend to have better visibility, access to resources as well as more
experience. Along with this, incumbent may be referring to leader of company which hold
large portion of overall industry’s market share. For instance, Blackberry is line of
smartphone, tablets as well as service originally designed and market by Canadian company
i.e., Blackberry Limited. Respective organisation was launched in 1999 on 19th January which
was 21 years ago.
Challengers – They are the new competitors who try for gaining market shares within
competitive business environment. In addition to this, market challengers are the organisation
that tries for expanding market share through aggressively flooding the market with their
products at competitive prices. Moreover, market challengers are the business firm that
generally at no. 2 or 3 position in business environment. In simple term it can be said that,
challengers always come with something innovative in market area for challenging

Incumbent and gaining high market share. For instance, Apple inc. is American multinational
technology company founded in 1976. They are serving at worldwide level and
headquartered at 1 Apple Park Way Cupertino, California, United State.
Explain several reasons why incumbents are being beaten by challengers in detail
Incumbent is the organisations which have leading market position as well as they are
powerful existing players within an arena. In addition to this, organisations which are
incumbents are also tend to have better visibility, access to resources as well as more
experience. On the other hand, challengers are the new competitors who try for gaining
market shares within competitive business environment. In simple term it can be said that,
incumbents are the business firm to who challengers are challenging through their innovative
offerings. Apart from this, main reason because challengers is beating incumbents is they
want to gain place in market area as well as long term sustainability with high customer base.
There are several reasons that incumbents are beaten by challengers because they are the
leaders of business environment and challengers always come with something innovative in
market because their motive is to take No. 2 or 3 position within business environment. In
addition to this, challengers are seem to be better in comparison of incumbents in taking
advantages related to disruptive innovation which represents evolution in old technologies by
replacing it with best fit alternatives. The main motive of disruptive technologies is to bring
changes in old way of doing work by make the work easy, fast and more productive. For
instance, Apple Inc, always come with something innovative in market area whereas
BlackBerry Limited is continuing with their old products. As pe the customer view point, if
they are investing their highly earned money then they always want to purchase latest
technology products.
After introduction of Android, the market of Apple get affected as middle
class range grabbed by cheap and best featured Android phones. Apple has failed to provide
simplicity in its handsets as like Android do. For instance, Android gives users to install any
app and songs at free of cost from google playstore which are usually charged by Apple. But
Apple brings best security to its users and Android fails to do so. After Steve Jobs; the new
CEO fails to bring new technology in its product. This is the reason now Apple only brings
updated version not new features or technology. This indicates that in future Apple might
beat by some other product and can fall into incumbent company category.

Why challengers beat the incumbents.
There are several reasons that incumbents are beaten by challengers because they are the
leaders of business environment and challengers always come with something innovative in
market because their motive is to take No. 2 or 3 position within business environment. In
addition to this, challengers are seem to be better in comparison of incumbents in taking
advantages related to disruptive innovation which represents evolution in old technologies by
replacing it with best fit alternatives. The main motive of disruptive technologies is to bring
changes in old way of doing work by make the work easy, fast and more productive. For
instance, Apple Inc, always come with something innovative in market area whereas
BlackBerry Limited is continuing with their old products. As pe the customer view point, if
they are investing their highly earned money then they always want to purchase latest
technology products.
After introduction of Android, the market of Apple get affected as middle
class range grabbed by cheap and best featured Android phones. Apple has failed to provide
simplicity in its handsets as like Android do. For instance, Android gives users to install any
app and songs at free of cost from google playstore which are usually charged by Apple. But
Apple brings best security to its users and Android fails to do so. After Steve Jobs; the new
CEO fails to bring new technology in its product. This is the reason now Apple only brings
updated version not new features or technology. This indicates that in future Apple might
beat by some other product and can fall into incumbent company category.
Explain the reasons for incumbents being beaten by challenger.
There are several reasons that incumbents are beaten by challengers because they are
the leaders of business environment and challengers always come with something innovative
in market because their motive is to take No. 2 or 3 position within business environment. In
addition to this, challengers are seem to be better in comparison of incumbents in taking
advantages related to disruptive innovation which represents evolution in old technologies by
replacing it with best fit alternatives. The main motive of disruptive technologies is to bring
changes in old way of doing work by make the work easy, fast and more productive. For
instance, Apple Inc, always come with something innovative in market area whereas
BlackBerry Limited is continuing with their old products. As pe the customer view point, if
they are investing their highly earned money then they always want to purchase latest
technology products.

After introduction of Android, the market of Apple get affected as middle
class range grabbed by cheap and best featured Android phones. Apple has failed to provide
simplicity in its handsets as like Android do. For instance, Android gives users to install any
app and songs at free of cost from google playstore which are usually charged by Apple. But
Apple brings best security to its users and Android fails to do so. After Steve Jobs; the new
CEO fails to bring new technology in its product. This is the reason now Apple only brings
updated version not new features or technology. This indicates that in future Apple might
beat by some other product and can fall into incumbent company category.
Role of technological innovation including disruptive technologies and how these
technological innovations have impacted these businesses (both incumbent and challenger).
Disruptive technology is the term which represents evolution in old technologies by
replacing it with best fit alternatives. The main motive of disruptive technologies is to bring
changes in old way of doing work by make the work easy, fast and more productive.
Role of technological innovation:
Technological innovations are playing a decisive role in the development of modern
economies. Consequently, governments are shifting their focus from strategy for science and
innovation to strategy for research and progress. Promotion cycle models have evolved over
the long term and are now ready to consider the many external elements of the company that
will affect the ability to promote and the rewards from it. Promotion is a financial cycle that
encourages significant improvement in value or the realization of high potential capabilities.
The difference in creative boundaries in different social orders can be seen in terms of social
capital and public settlement. Public development frameworks reflect these differences.
Technological innovations open doors for industry observers to form new associations
and establish poor conditions as residents' wells of their favorite local blight. Further
mechanical advancement poses vulnerabilities and risks for professionals as its results can
only be seen fully.
Technological innovations are the ability of money through which new advances in
creation and use are brought. It's about seeing new mechanical scenes, combining the human
and financial resources that are expected to transform them into useful elements and steps and
following the necessary exercises. It is important because innovation has played an important
role in promoting fundamentally improved lifestyles. Endogenous proliferation is accepted;
that is, it will accept changes you want and flexible settings. It introduces a unique and

exciting model that emerges from advances in the drive for innovation. Movement
negotiators are generally unable to realize the cumulative financial benefits of their
commitments, which could lead to the frustration of a force described as "questionable.
Innovative exercises also involve significant risks of mechanical frustration and (in
particular) misunderstanding of market demands. To address these problems, the provisions,
for example, the patent framework and the fundamentals, for example, highly innovative
financial markets have evolved.
How technological innovations have impacted Blackberry Ltd. and Apple Inc.
Impact on Blackberry Ltd.:
Blackberry has recorded great victory in the market; and forces everyone to get Blackberry
brand in their hand using a great innovation of QWERTY keys. This innovative keypad
makes easy for every user to type fast and respond quickly. The another reason behind the
success of Blackberry was launching this technological advanced keypad phone at the time;
when there was great boom of social sites such as tweeter and facebook in the market. Not
only the keypad but the attractive look of Blackberry attracts many users towards it.
The changing technology becomes the reason for fall in the Blackberry market.
Blackberry holds it progress only at single technology which sooner replace by latest Android
and Apple best features smart phones. This incumbent firm unable to bring new technology
in its existing product which brings failure and beaten by Apples latest technology handsets.
Hence, technological innovation brings negative impact to Blackberry Ltd. and as a result this
brand has almost vanished from the market.
Impact on Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. under the supervision of Steve Jobs gets success due to its one of the great strategy
of keep changing and updating its technologies with every new version of Smartphone in the
market. Company use to invest big proportion of its net earnings on research for brings new
features in its product. It has focused on making its product secure and luxury. The main
reason behind best selling of Apple product is targeting niche customer base who wants
unique and latest featured product. Hence, there is positive impact of technology innovations
on Apple Inc. So, compare to Blackberry, Apple holds the position of challenger.
After introduction of Android, the market of Apple get affected as middle class range
grabbed by cheap and best featured Android phones. Apple has failed to provide simplicity in

its handsets as like Android do. For instance, Android gives users to install any app and songs
at free of cost from google playstore which are usually charged by Apple. But Apple brings
best security to its users and Android fails to do so. After Steve Jobs; the new CEO fails to
bring new technology in its product. This is the reason now Apple only brings updated
version not new features or technology. This indicates that in future Apple might beat by
some other product and can fall into incumbent company category.
CONCLUSION
After going through overall discussion, it has been summarised that incumbents as
well as challengers both are part of business environment. Incumbent is the organisations
which have leading market position as well as they are powerful existing players within an
arena. In addition to this, organisations which are incumbents are also tend to have better
visibility, access to resources as well as more experience. On the other hand, challengers are
the new competitors who try for gaining market shares within competitive business
environment. In simple term it can be said that, incumbents are the business firm to who
challengers are challenging through their innovative offerings. Apart from this, main reason
because challengers is beating incumbents is they want to gain place in market area as well as
long term sustainability with high customer base.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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and rapid response to invasive species. Biological Invasions, 22(1), pp.75-100.
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structures and framing strategies. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 33,
pp.183-195.
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characteristics in open-list proportional representation systems: Evidence from
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change: How incumbents appropriate clean rhetoric for dirty technologies. Organization
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