Technological dynamics: An empirical study in mobile telecommunications

Mobile communication market presents drastically technology changes from the first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G) and next fourth generation(4G) in progress. This study investigates the impact of technological change on a firm´s development of capabilities in the context of mobile telecommunications. We propose instability of technology scope, the diversity and ranking of patent classes of the industry over time to measure technological changes. In a total of 21 firms and their 286,953 patents related in the field of mobile telecommunications, empirical results show that firms would tend to concentrate technological portfolio in addressing to technological change.