(Mobile-wireless technologies cloned sheep would be way down in the bottom left corner.) Whether or not one of these technologies will climb the market adoption curve depends on the following: • The cost benefit to the consumer • The robustness and usefulness of the technology to the consumer • Complementary uses for the consumer (in the case of consumer electronics this may well mean other applications or software that can run on the new device) • Whether or not the device falls in line with industry standards Such projects bring out the difficulties associated with launching radically new products. . | 24 Manufacturing Analysis Some Basic Questions for a Start-Up Company Chap. 2 Market adoption Figure 12 Hie market adoption curve modified to include several products. cloned sheep would be way down in the bottom left corner. Whether or not one of these technologies will climb the market adoption curve depends on the following The cost benefit to the consumer The robustness and usefulness of the technology to the consumer Complementary uses for the consumer in the case of consumer electronics this may well mean other applications or software that can run on the new device Whether or not the device falls in line with industry standards Such projects bring out the difficulties associated with launching radically new products. Geoffrey Moore 1995 introduced the phrase crossing the chasm to emphasize this Figure . In the early stages of a product s life there will always be some measure of a market. There is a small group of consumers who love technology enough to buy a new product no matter how useful it is perhaps just for amusement or to be able to show off to their friends that they have the latest cool thing on the market. But this early market of impressionable technology nuts or technophiles only lasts so long. The real growth of the product depends on the first bullet above namely the cost benefit to the average consumer. This begs the question How can a product survive across this chasm between the early enthusiasts and the real market Geoffrey Moore goes on to use a head bowling pin analogy for capturing this phase of stable growth. As an example he chooses the now-familiar personal pager. Apparently medical doctors were the first real market adopters of the pager and once the general public saw how useful they were the product crossed the chasm and accelerated rapidly up the S-shaped curve in Figure . Question 1 Who Is the Customer 25 Early market growth Figure 23 The concept of crossing the chasm from Geoffrey Moore 1995 . Inevitable .
