The case of the digital camera shows companies innovating
architecturally in response to the market need of a wider
range of product functions. While Kodak, Canon, Fujifilm, and
Konica dominated the era of film cameras, only Canon has
maintained its leading position in the digital era by leveraging
its advanced optical technologies and focusing on high-end
single-lens reflex (SLR) digital cameras [68]. The technological
transition also provided Sony with the opportunity to emerge
as the dominant digital camera manufacturer. Unlike Canon,
Sony's competitive competence lies in its mastery of consumer
electronic technologies. Although the first digital camera was
invented in Kodak in 1975, the company failed to commercialize
it, possibly as a result of the “inventor's dilemma” [3].
Instead, in 1981, Sony leveraged its competence in consumer
electronics, branding and distribution to launch the first
commercially viable digital camera and immediately became
a market leader [66]. This illustrates the need of incumbent
firms facing this type of technological innovation to determine
the right architecture and to ensure their ability to reconfigure
their products by securing required technologies.