Spotting the customer for emerging technologies

It is generally assumed that a radically new technology replaces a current technology because of its superior performance in an existing application. However, the authors' research shows that this is not generally true, custo mers familiar with the existing technology may find completely new, unexpec ted applications. For the three technologies studied, although 68 to 97 per cent of total sales, were mostly to existing customers, they were for compl etely nar applications. This brings a new perspective to marketing strategi es for new technologies. While some new technologies can readily enter exis ting markets and applications, others cannot and may need to develop comple tely new applications. After developing a beachhead with these new applicat ions, the new technologies can then move into conventional applications muc h more smoothly.