Patents are Not Patents Only: Turning Point of Characters in the Semiconductor Industry

To find out the relationship between patent development and strategic decision for business model of IDM companies, the authors explored the patent development trend of specific IDM companies by patent analysis to find out key information, like patent activity, quality, development speed for past 3 decades (1981-2010). The study provided a different idea that patents not only could express their technology capability but also could release the mystery for their business strategy. Authors believe that this paper will stimulate future conceptual and empirical research on this important topic and has implications for decision makers.