It's not discussed in this particular article, but economies of scale certainly favor incumbents in hardware as well. If you need confirmation, go ask Pebble guys how they fared after Apple Watch was launched.
I am not sure you can use one example of a hardware company failing as proof of anything. Just as you couldn't use the success of a software or hardware company proving the opposite, that there isn't a problem.
There are enough articles out there from hardware kickstarters that failed post-funding for me to believe that manufacturing new products on-price and on-time is insanely difficult. I'm sure Apple can design and manufacture 50+ iPhone prototypes for any yearly launch. But startups really only get one chance to get it right before their funding runs dry.
megy|7 years ago
spyspy|7 years ago