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Paradigm Shifts in the TFT-LCD Industry and Japan’s Competitive Position in East Asia

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Paradigm Shift in Technologies and Innovation Systems

Abstract

This chapter analyzes Japan’s changing competitive position in the TFT-LCD industry over the past several decades. Based on the analysis of multiple factors that affected Japan’s decline, I identified paradigm shifts in the TFT-LCD industry that have directly or indirectly led to a change in Japan’s competitive position. The chapter shows that declining competitiveness of a country and a firm cannot be fully understood without closely relating it to the shifts in the paradigm of the industry. In addition, this chapter shows how the paradigm shifts of the industry, the changing competitive positions of a country and a firm, as well as the changing locus of innovation for a company, i.e. domestic vs. international and in-house versus collaborative, are aligned with one another.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This two-dimensional framework is consistent with Mudambi (2018) which classified strategic choice by geographic location (i.e. concentrated or dispersed) and control (i.e. vertical integration or specialization).

  2. 2.

    TMD (Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Ltd.) was founded on April 1, 2002, with 60% Toshiba and 40% Matsushita, in charge of development, manufacturing, and sales of TFT-LCD, STN-LCD, and OLED for small-medium size panels, aiming at cost-breakthrough by economies of scale (Asakawa and Kim 2007).

  3. 3.

    “IPS” stands for “In-Plane-Switching,” the technology for widening the view angle originally developed by Hitachi (Nikkei Newspaper, November 1, 2004; Asakawa and Kim 2007).

  4. 4.

    This includes OEM from Taiwan, LCD module and LCD TV assembly in China, Malaysia, Mexico, and Poland, as for Sharp (Nakata 2007).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Stefanie Lenway and Thomas Murtha for their insights into the early stage of this research through our collaboration at Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Industry Studies Project. I thank RIETI for its generous support to conduct the early stage of this research. I also thank Keio Business School’s Mitsubishi Chairship Fund and the JSPS Grant-in-Aid (B) No. 15H03384 for the financial support.

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  1. Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan

    Kazuhiro Asakawa

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Correspondence to Kazuhiro Asakawa .

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  1. Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA

    John Cantwell

  2. Kokushikan University, Tokyo, Japan

    Takabumi Hayashi

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Asakawa, K. (2019). Paradigm Shifts in the TFT-LCD Industry and Japan’s Competitive Position in East Asia. In: Cantwell, J., Hayashi, T. (eds) Paradigm Shift in Technologies and Innovation Systems. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9350-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9350-2_6

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