Establishing Galapagos Ke-tai’s Dominant Industrial Design

Abstract

The folding "clamshell" mobile phone was chosen as the dominant industrial design in the Japanese mobile phone industry due to the importance of mail functionality, and NEC actively pushed this style and acquired major market share. As a result, at the start of the 21st century, the dominant design "Galapagos ke-tai," unique to Japan, was established. However, this dominant industrial design along with the functionality of these phones became a barrier to the Japanese mobile phone industry when they shifted to smartphones. In other words, a dominant industrial design determined the competitive positions of companies.

How collaboration between industrial designers and other members related to product development affect innovation and efficiency

“…As it is said that having a dominant ID gives a competitive advantage to a firm (Akiike, 2017), the importance of design innovation is being acknowledged. This paper therefore discusses innovation in terms of (1) design innovation and (2) technology innovation.…”

What are the requirements for design thinking articles?

“…Therefore, this paper reviewed articles on design thinking. The results showed that (a) while existing review 1 Design management has become popular also in Japan in recent years (e.g., Akiike, 2017;Akiike & Yoshioka-Kobayashi, 2017;Akiike, Yoshioka-Kobayashi, & Katsumata, 2019;Hanahara, 2021). 2 (i), (ii), and (iii) are the authors' classification.…”

What was the Galapagos ke-tai?

“…Akiike (2017) explains the diffusion of folding type phones through changes in features.8 According toTakahashi (2015), the iron cage (e.g.,DiMaggio & Powell, 1983 protects corporate management, but at the same time binds it,…”