The Biggest Mistake That a Big Company Made?

I have done considerable research on digital disruption and the businesses that have been overtaken. There have been many. But the one that represents the biggest mistake in my mind was Smith-Corona in the typewriter industry. Let me explain my logic.

Smith Corona was the best typewriter company for … well, a long time leading to the late 1980s and the development of the personal computer. From then to the mid-1990s, they became a leader in technologies related to typewriters, such as:

Grammar checkers

Built-in dictionaries

Laptop word processor

PDA’s

So they had a strong foothold in personal computer word processing just as personal computers and word processing were in their infancy.

Interesting, no?

They were in a perfect position to transition from the typewriter market (which was soon to be digitally disrupted) to the word processing market.

But they didn’t pull the trigger. Why you may be thinking? This was a huge mistake.

Related post: Extraordinary Digital Disruption Mini-Case Studies

My view and takeaways: