Nearly every industry classification is experiencing slow growth and increasing concentration. Seldom do researchers have an opportunity to observe an emerging industry segment with as much promise as the smart home ecosystem, an exponentially growing industry. The study presents a novel approach using industry life cycle model and a coopetition framework to understand the process of the ecosystem development. Building on recent literature suggesting companies that purposefully match strategy to life cycle stage, the paper describes the strategic motivations and critical factors involved in the competition-based evolution of smart home ecosystems from early to growth phases, leading to a decision among the largest competitors to engage in coopetition. Following life cycle theory, in a mature phase, we forecast companies will attempt to differentiate by leveraging their brands, services, and bundles to drive differentiation. The standardization discussed in industry life cycle research is complemented by using the collaboration model required for complex and highly integrated systems. We provide four propositions and discussion of implications for future research and practice.

几乎每个行业分类都在经历缓慢增长和日益集中。研究人员很少有机会像智能家居生态系统这样一个呈指数级增长的行业一样，有机会观察到有希望的新兴行业。该研究提出了一种使用行业生命周期模型和合作框架来理解生态系统发展过程的新方法。基于最近的文献建议公司有目的地将战略与生命周期阶段相匹配，本文描述了智能家居生态系统从早期到增长阶段基于竞争的演变所涉及的战略动机和关键因素，导致最大的竞争对手之间做出决定参与竞争。遵循生命周期理论，在成熟阶段，我们预测公司将尝试通过利用其品牌、服务和捆绑来推动差异化来实现差异化。工业生命周期研究中讨论的标准化通过使用复杂和高度集成系统所需的协作模型得到补充。我们提供了四个命题并讨论了对未来研究和实践的影响。