Competing with the platform: complementor positioning and cross-platform response to entry

This study contrasts traditional entry dynamics with platform owner entry into a complementor market and examines cross-platform complementor response to competition with the platform. Generalists experience low repositioning cost and are more likely to shift effort away, while specialists focus their effort on the focal platform. We examine Apple’s “Files” app entry and find support for our hypotheses: generalists shift effort towards the competing platform, while specialists double down on the focal platform. Moreover, empirically comparing Apple’s entry with that of other large firms, we find that only the platform owner elicits a strong complementor response. This paper contributes to the competitive and corporate strategy literatures, underscoring how complementor heterogeneity affects cross-platform allocation of effort when the platform owner becomes a competitor in complementor spaces.