Innovation through cannibalization

The industry was changing due to new technology, businesses were merging and the main market was being commoditized. A new product & business opportunity was emerging but pursuing this would lead to cannibalizing both own and current customer base’s business. Question was now how one could pursue innovation while securing success? 3Shape decided to innovate and to overcome cannibalization by 1) Continuing to improve the performance of products on the commoditized market 2) Fighting low cost entrants on the commoditized market 3) Creating synergies to the new product innovation by: a) Introduce cross product features b) Create business opportunities for current customers with the new product 4) Creating awareness of the burning platform among current customers to bring them on the innovation journey