Smart, connected products are changing how value is created for customers, how companies compete, and the boundaries of competition itself.
Braun, Toaster Chris Labrooy
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.
A version of this article appeared in the November 2014 issue of Harvard Business Review.