The Inter-enterprise Relationship and Competitive Strategy in the Electronics Industry : A case study of the vacuum tube business during the interwar period

Research Project

Project/Area Number	09630084
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Economic history
Research Institution	AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator	HASEGAWA Shin AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY,School of Business, Professor, 経営学部, 教授 (40144050)
Project Period (FY)	1997 – 1998
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1998)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000) Fiscal Year 1998: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1997: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Keywords	electronics enterprise / technological development / technology transfer / vacuum tube / Tokyo Electric Co. / Nippon Electric Co. / 無線 / 放送機 / エレクトロニクス
Research Abstract	(1) The Strategy of Tokyo Electric Co. , which was granted the Langniuir hard bulb patent by General Electric Co. , was to stop the entries of the other vacuum tube manufacturers. The strategy was successful, and Tokyo Electric Co. was able to enjoy the benefits of the vacuum tube business growing in the latter half of 1920s. Furthermore, the agreement between Tokyo Electric Co. and Nippon Electric Co. , which decided Nippon Electric Co. to abandon the production of hard bulbs, was concluded in 1926. The agreement was similar to the U.S.agreement between the radio group and the telephone group in 1925. (2) In the 1930s Nippon Electric Co. entered into the vacuum tube market aggressively, because Tokyo Electric Co. granted Nippon Electric Co. the right to use the Langrnuir patent. The reason why Tokyo Electric Co. changed the policy on the Langmuir patent is not clear. Nippon electric Co. did not intend to make vacuum tubes using the Langnvir patent, because the deadline of the Langmuir patent was extended from 1930 to 1935 in Japan. On the other hand in U.S.A.General Electric Co. and RCA, affiliated with Tokyo Electric Co. , were changing the policy that they enjoyed their own patents exclusively under the effects of the anti-monopoly law. In conclusion the change of the foreign companies' strategy effected on the patent agreement between Tokyo Electric Co. and Japanese companies. (3) The market share of Tokyo Electric Co. tend to decline after The Japan-China War under the rapid increase of vacuum tube demand. Tokyo Electric Co. granted patents and know-how to Japanese companies under the military compulsion. This wartime technology transfer laid the foundation of the electronics enterprises in the postwar period.