Digital Transofrmation and Leapfrogging of a Catching-up Country: the Case of Korean Digital TV Industry

디지털 전환기의 후발국 기술추격 패턴 분석 : 디지털 TV 사례

This paper examined the leapfrogging of Korean Digital TV Industry in the midst of digital Revolution. Despite the lack of sufficient capability and core knowledge base, the Korean firms succeeded in the catching up forerunner firms in the Digital TV industry. The reasons of the success of Korean firms were as follows. Firstly, the Korean firms had some complementary asset, such as the experience of producing analog TV, and were able to develop the prototype digital TV given the accesses to the foreign knowledge via overseas R&D posts and acquisition of a foreign company. Secondly, the Korean firms were not locked in the analog technologies. As a follower, they had little sunk cost on the existing analog technologies. Thirdly, New mode of innovation, such as National R&D program for the development of HDTV and ASIC, were used as a tool for the mobilization of scarce knowledge base of digital technologies and the sharing the risks of development of path-breaking new technologies.