“INTERNET OF THINGS” AS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR FIRMS: comparison between different case studies.

Abstract

In a world that is increasingly digitalized, the concept of “Internet of Things” is spreading more and more, as demonstrated by the exponential growth of the global IoT market and the constant expansion of smart objects. Empowered by the benefits of 5G connection, IoT potential, which allows connection among devices, can be exploited to enable a variety of use cases covering different fields of application: from smart home to healthcare, from smart city to automotive, from manufacturing to retail. On the basis of this scenario, a number of leading consumer electronics companies (Xiaomi, Apple, Samsung and Google) are analyzed, with the aim to understand how IoT impacts on the achievement of a sustainable competitive advantage. This technological progress has, in fact, affected the way firms conduct their business: traditional firm-centric business models are replaced by network-centric ones, big data analytics is becoming a key part in making decision and customers are assuming greater importance in the process of value creation. On the other hand, limits and challenges of IoT devices are investigated, among them privacy and security issues and the problem of the presence of many different connectivity protocols on the market.