Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition

By: Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Information technology is revolutionizing products. Once composed solely of mechanical and electrical parts, products have become complex systems that combine hardware, sensors, data storage, microprocessors, software, and connectivity in myriad ways. These "smart, connected products"—made possible by vast improvements in processing power and device miniaturization and by the network benefits of ubiquitous wireless connectivity—have unleashed a new era of competition.

Keywords

Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Transformation; Information Technology Industry

Citation

Porter, Michael E., and James E. Heppelmann. "How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition." Harvard Business Review 92, no. 11 (November 2014): 64–88.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

About The Author

Michael E. Porter

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • October 26, 2021
    • NEJM Catalyst

    Value Chain Management to Implement Post-COVID-19 Health Care Strategy: The COVID-19 Crisis Has Created Areas of Innovation That Should Be Embraced by Health Care Leaders

    By: Michael E. Porter, Junaid Nabi and Thomas H. Lee
    • 2021
    • Faculty Research

    The Changing Role of Business in Society

    By: Michael E. Porter
    • May 2021
    • European Urology

    Value-Based Healthcare in Urology: A Collaborative Review

    By: Chanan Reitblat, Paul A. Bain, Michael E. Porter, David N. Bernstein, Thomas W. Feeley, Markus Graefen, Santosh Iyer, Matthew J. Resnick, C.J. Stimson, Quoc-Dien Trinh and Boris Gershman
More from the Authors
  • Value Chain Management to Implement Post-COVID-19 Health Care Strategy: The COVID-19 Crisis Has Created Areas of Innovation That Should Be Embraced by Health Care Leaders By: Michael E. Porter, Junaid Nabi and Thomas H. Lee
  • The Changing Role of Business in Society By: Michael E. Porter
  • Value-Based Healthcare in Urology: A Collaborative Review By: Chanan Reitblat, Paul A. Bain, Michael E. Porter, David N. Bernstein, Thomas W. Feeley, Markus Graefen, Santosh Iyer, Matthew J. Resnick, C.J. Stimson, Quoc-Dien Trinh and Boris Gershman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College