The pre‐commercialization emergence of the combination of product features in the charge‐coupled device image sensor

Research Summary Despite recent investigations that expand our understanding of the evolution of a new industry and the role of its early actors, an exploration of the critical function of firm experimentation in the pre‐commercialization phase has been lacking in the literature. This study focuses on the pre‐commercialization phase of CCD image sensors and uncovers the emergence of the combination of product features—chosen through systematic experimentations—that define the post‐commercialization dominant design. Managerial Summary We examine how pre‐commercialization experimentation generates new knowledge that transfers from one early actor to another enabling them to sequentially mitigate the product performance trade‐offs associated with the combination of product features that define the eventual dominant design. Our findings describe how firm experimentation helps the emergence of product features in the pre‐commercialization phase of CCD image sensors, which shapes the post‐commercialization dominant design to emerge.