Abstract
Mobile application stores have revolutionised the
dynamics of mobile ecosystems. Research on mobile
application ecosystems has been significantly driven by
data that is focused on the visualisation of an
ecosystem's dynamics. This is a valuable step towards
understanding the nature of the ecosystems, but it is
limited in its explanatory power. Thus, a theory-driven
approach is needed to understand the overall dynamics of
such systems. This study applies a theoretical framework
of value creation in e-business in the context of mobile
application ecosystems, with a focus on application
developers. A qualitative research strategy is employed
in testing operationalisation in a sample of developers.
The sample comprises 27 application developers from the
three leading mobile application ecosystems. The results
show that efficiency is the main source of value,
products seldom create value through complementarities,
and approaches towards lock-in and novelty seem to vary
among application developers. The managerial and
theoretical implications of such biased value creation in
mobile ecosystems are considered.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 61-72 |
| Journal | Journal of Systems and Software |
| Volume | 96 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Keywords
- software ecosystem
- value creation
- mobile applications
- ecosystems