Entry barrier's difference between ICT and non‐ICT industries

Purpose – Given the increasingly saturated information and communication technology (ICT) market and the intensification of competition among ICT firms, there is a need for a better understanding of entry barriers in the ICT market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the overall characteristics of these entry barriers and identify firms' strategies for achieving market dominance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined the overall characteristics of these entry barriers and identified firms' strategies for achieving market dominance by tracking the actual patterns of firms' ICT market entry based on the Bass diffusion model. Findings – The results indicate that the saturation of the ICT market reduced entry barriers, which strengthened the imitation effect. In addition, entry barriers were lower for ICT firms than for non‐ICT ones. Furthermore, entry barriers were higher for the manufacturing sector than for the service sector, indicating that the innovation effect was stronger for the manufacturing sector than for the service sector, whereas the opposite was true for the imitation effect. Originality/value – These results suggest that those firms that are planning to enter or are already in the ICT market should develop better strategies for gaining a competitive advantage.