One of the fiercest rivalries in the information-technology world has long been over platforms—products that link users in networks, like iTunes for online music or Windows for computer operating systems. It’s often a winner-take-all business; platform leaders can earn huge profits as they tend to dominate markets with few serious competitors.

A myth, however, has attached itself to the history of platforms: that each platform’s originator has the best chance of dominating its market for years to come.

The truth is, that is rarely the case.

Instead of there being an advantage to being first, we found the opposite to be true. Most owners of leading IT platforms today did not create the markets they now rule. In almost all of the industries we studied, the current platform leaders introduced their products after a different company had already established the market with a platform of its own.

Out of the 15 platform industries that we studied, 14 of the current leaders began as followers in a market created by a competitor’s platform. In only one market, for integrated business software, was the original platform creator still the leader—SAP AG. Five were fast followers, which we define as the second, third or fourth company to enter a market. The other nine were later followers.

To us, this suggests that while platform creators may reap early financial gains (mostly by selling to followers), long-term advantage goes to the followers.

Why would this be?

Easier to Imitate

For one thing, followers are imitating or improving a product, which is easier than inventing one. They can focus marketing on why their products are better, instead of having to explain what their product is and does. For instance, online auction sites already existed when eBay Inc. founder Pierre Omidyar created his company. But those earlier sites were run by businesses selling to consumers. EBay changed the concept to one in which consumers would sell to consumers.

Fast followers also can benefit by timing their product’s launch closer to the point where the market’s growth will take off. Amazon.com Inc. started selling books online in 1994, a few years after Book Stacks Unlimited, but at a time when the Web and e-commerce were poised to surge with new users