This question is a matter of economics and determining which avenue will yield the greatest financial return. If DoCoMo believes that it will eventually make more money by offering the Felica technology and licensing it to rivals rather than offering it as a DoCoMo exclusive, then that ought to be the course of action. In addition, this is also impacts the level of adoption of the Felica technology. Since DoCoMo is a major partner in Felica, it has a financial interest (a potential new revenue stream) in seeing Felica succeed and thus, will benefit from the mass-adoption of Felica. DoCoMo has maxed out its market share and needs to seek new revenue streams and Felica is first in line as a realistic possibility. Networking effects suggest that the Felica technology will only be successful if it is widely-adopted by all and regarded as the primary IC technology. The Bluetooth technology is a good example; Sony invented and patented the Bluetooth technology and decided to license the technology so that it would be adopted on a grand-scale as opposed to keeping it proprietary and specific to only Sony products. Also, by licensing the technology for others to use, there is potential for a reduction in the risk associated with implementation of the technology since all cell phone manufacturers/carries may decide to implement the technology thus, enhancing the possibility of success through mass-adoption. Finally, as the case mentioned, DoCoMo will still have a competitive advantage over its competitors who license the Felica technology, through a first-mover advantage every time there is a modification/improvement to the technology, DoCoMo will be the first to have access to it. Therefore, it is wise for DoCoMo to offer Felica to its rivals.
2. Is search a winner-take-all business?
Search is not a WTA business:
1. It is not a "natural monopoly"
2. Homing-costs are low for both sides
3. Network effects are irrelevant since "searches" are automated algorithms and not a network
4. Platform differentiation can be transaction-specific when people need different types of searches (ex. legal search, library search, document search, image search, person search, etc.)
Therefore, "search" is a multi-homing platform.
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